Kansas City Royals: Eric Hosmer best Royals first baseman of 2010s

The decade is coming to an end, so let’s take a look at the best Kansas City Royals at each position. At first base, the best Royal from 2010-2019 is none other than Eric Hosmer.

Eric Hosmer, drafted third overall in the 2008 amateur draft out of American Hertitage High School (Florida), quickly became the Kansas City Royals top prospect in the best farm system in baseball.

Hosmer made his MLB debut at age 21 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 and was one of the most popular players during his time with the Royals from 2011 – 2017. I remember the crowd giving him a standing ovation during his debut. He played an exciting brand of baseball for the Kansas City fans, showing emotion, clutch hitting ability, and a desire to win.

Hosmer led the Royals statistically at first base for the decade with a stat line of:

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• 1048 games
• .284/.342/.439
• 127 HRs
• 222 extra base hits
• 60 SBs
• .994 fielding percentage

During the decade, Hosmer was an All-Star in 2016 (where he won the MVP award for the American League), 4x Gold Glover (2013 – 2015, 2017), and Silver Slugger (2017). He was one of the best athletes to play first base for the Royals in their history and was one of the best defenders at the position during the decade. Hosmer played consistent baseball for the Royals and was cornerstone for the ball club during their successful run between 2013 – 2017.

I don’t think it is very hard to pin down Hosmer’s most memorable moment. He left the Royals fan base ecstatic in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series when he stole a run in the top of the ninth inning by stealing home on a Salvador Perez groundout to third base to tie the ball game and send it into extra innings.

We all know that from there, the Royals closed things out and returned to Kansas City as World Series champions.

My best memory of Eric Hosmer was his triple in the bottom of the 12th inning of the 2014 Wild Card game against the Oakland A’s. The crowd gasped when that ball left the bat and absolutely went crazy when ball bounced off the wall and Hosmer sped around second base.

I attended that game in person and I can tell you from personal experience that I will never attend another playoff game because of that game; Simply perfection in terms of getting your money’s worth and the intensity of that crowd from start to finish, and Hosmer played a HUGE role in that.

Eric Hosmer left the Royals once he hit free agency after the 2017 season, eventually signing with the San Diego Padres for $144 million.

The draft pick compensation for Hosmer’s departure netted the Kansas City Royals the #33 pick, which the Royals used to select University of Florida pitcher Jackson Kowar. After two seasons in the Royals farm system, Kowar appears to have major star power potential with his elite pitching arsenal.

Back to Hosmer though, was there any doubt that he’d be the first baseman of the decade for the Kansas City Royals? He spent most of the decade as their first baseman and did a lot of wonderful things for this organization during his time in Kansas City.