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This was to be Our Year, Our Time…
You know, with the Royals. Well, so far it’s somebody else’s year, not ours. The Royals as of today are still stuck at the bottom of their division. The team has the third worst record in the league. Everyone got a bit excited because we won a few games the last couple weeks, but then reality hit this weekend when the St. Louis Cards swept our butts in three games.
So it’s back to the "we suck" attitude for most fans.
The main reason the Royals have been so bad? No hitting. As of last week, the Royals had the fewest home runs in the American League. And to this point we have no real All-Star with the game here a couple weeks from now.
Maybe it’s time to send faded star Eric Hosmer down to Triple A for a tune up.
Hey, it helped Alex Gordon a few years back, remember? Hosmer is considered by many to be the reason the Royals are still a no-show.
Hosmer was supposed to be pounding the ball, hitting well over .300 with about 15-20 homers by now. Instead he’s batting just over .200 and is one of the league’s worst position players when it comes to batting average.
Yes, Hosmer is a solid first baseman, but it’s Billy Butler‘s bat the Royals want in the line up against the National League. Butler has hit with good power and is the only power hitter we seem to have today. Mike Moustakas is coming along as well, with two home runs yesterday in the loss.
But Hosmer is nowhere to be found…0 for 4, 1 for 5, over and over again.
Hosmer is the issue.
We all know our starting pitching is just not there and the bullpen will fade as the summer wears on and takes them down. Too many innings of relief pitching. So even with Hosmer hitting the team will likely not contend for the division, but it would be much more exciting. With the team at least hitting, fans could see some hope for the immediate future. Like NOW…
But something is wrong with Eric, somethng.
It may be an off the field problem, who knows? The season is nearly half gone and let’s face it, with all the "sure thing" tags hanging on Eric, it’s just not happening.
This is not a slump, it’s HALF THE SEASON.
The guy has been between .170 and .220 all year. He might just need that wake-up call. In the minors for a few weeks could get him hitting again. Couldn’t hurt. Maybe bring in an outside batting coach for the sure thing.
The last two ‘sure things’ were Alex Gordon and Billy Butler and both players started slow.
Especially Gordon. Butler has become a nice .300 hitter with some power. Billy can play first base, but is slow and average in the field. Gordon is a great outfielder, but is a mid to high .200 hitter with just fair power. Neither have become outstanding. Both are good solid players…not sure things.
Eric Hosmer is starting to look like one of these two – good but not great.
And right now "good" would be a major improvement.
Trade
The Royals have to make some tough decisions on their young talent in the minors like Will Meyers. They may have to deal him or Hosmer for some major league ready starting pitching. Otherwise, this team is just MEAT for the near future. Take the Cardinals for example. They had to give up J.D. Drew in order to get some starting pitching which they were desperate for. So they traded him to the Atlanta Braves for reliever Ray King, and starters Jason Marquis and Adam Wainwright. King was a key left hander out of the bullpen for a few years, Marquis was solid #3 starter for some playoff teams in STL, and Wainwright has become one of the best pitchers in the NL.
I know this….
Nobody is going to beat my KC Royals home run record. 🙂