Eric Hosmer is on a Short Leash
Trust me, I want Eric Hosmer to be good. Another unbelievable stretch like the one he had at the start of 2022 with the San Diego Padres would be more than welcomed because he was literally the sixth best hitter after April. But there’s a reason Hosmer was later traded to the Boston Red Sox, who then dumped him in the offseason. There’s a reason why the Padres are paying almost all of Hosmer’s remaining contract, close to $40 million, so that he won’t be on their team, it’s because he’s not that good anymore.
Hosmer’s been on a very short leash ever since the Cubs signed him, but ultimately me and other fans complaining about his presence on the team doesn’t really matter. Hosmer is going to have to play himself out of a job, but at least there are indications that the team isn’t just going to keep him around no matter what.
While Hosmer’s status on the Opening Day roster was never in question during spring training despite the growing annoyance from fans, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma did say the short could be leash for the veteran first baseman.
Via The Athletic.
There was some debate about whether Ríos’ strong spring makes Hosmer redundant, especially with his lack of versatility. It never got to the point that he was actually looked at as not making the team out of spring, but the leash could be short there if he struggles out of the gate and the Cubs need a roster spot.
Last year the Cubs had Jonathan Villar, Andrelton Simmons, Frank Schwindel, Alfonso Rivas and Jason Heyward all had close to or well above 100 plate appearances when they really shouldn’t have. But that’s the thing about 2022, it’s not like the Cubs were actually trying to win. This year, the goal is clear, it’s time to be competitive again and you can’t have a giant black hole in your lineup at first base when there are already a few question marks in the lineup.
After his first 21 games of the 2022 season, Hosmer slashed .240/.305/.336, hitting five home runs and 13 doubles in 338 plate appearances. That came with a 56% ground out rate and an 81 wRC+, which means he was 19% worse creating offense than the league average hitter.
Even with a few monster months at the plate, Hosmer has only been an average hitter at best overall during the past two seasons. I hope he catches fire in April for the Cubs, but the danger becomes that they’re convinced he’s fine and then he goes on to be terrible for the next two months and by the time it’s July he’s done a lot more harm than good before he’s cut.
Best case scenario is Matt Mervis continues his outstanding run from 2022 into this season, tears it up in Triple-A and the Cubs quickly realize that they don’t need Hosmer.
Also, I get that the announcers on Marquee have to prop up the Cubs and yes Hosmer does have four career gold gloves, but it’s also disingenuous to continue grouping Hosmer with Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger and Ian Happ among a few others when talking about how strong the Cubs defense is.
Hosmer has been terrible on defense for a while.
However, I’m also not going to blindly hate on Hosmer while he’s with the Cubs either.
The Cubs were up 4-0 on Opening Day and although Michael Fulmer looked great on the mound in the ninth inning, there was a runner at first base with one out when a come backer almost resulted in an awful outcome. However, thanks to Hosmer, a Brewers potential rally was stopped after he made a great pick on a throw in the dirt from Fulmer.
So, you know, hopefully Hosmer keeps doing that while he’s on the Cubs. But also, please be good Matt Mervis because Hosmer is somehow better at hitting ground balls to the second baseman than Jason Heyward.