Kansas City Royals best all-time first basemen in franchise history

Kansas City Royals best all-time first basemen – No. 2: Eric Hosmer

10.4 WAR

Eric Hosmer is one of the most popular Royals’ this century, and it is well deserved. The Royals drafted him third overall in 2008 and he worked his way up to the majors to stay in 2011.

In his first two seasons, the team won 71 and 72 games but starting in 2013, the team had it’s best three-year stretch in over thirty years. The Royals won 86 games that season, then 89 in 2014, which culminated in a World Series appearance.

The following season, the Royals won 95 games and the World Series. Hosmer was a crucial figure in all of those seasons, but ironically, his best years at the plate were after that in 2016 and 2017.

He hammered 25 homers both season, knocked in 104 runs in 2016, and hit .318 in 2017. He won the Silver Slugger in 2017 as well.

His Wins Above Replacement bounced around a bit, going as low as -1.3 to as high as 4.0. Part of the reason for that was inconsistent defense. Despite the fact Hosmer won four Gold Gloves, defensive metrics were not his friend.

His Ultimate Zone Rating for his seven years in Kansas City was an abysmal – 23.9, according to Fangraphs. His Defensive Runs Saved for the Royals was -10. These numbers had to affect his overall WAR numbers negatively.

Hosmer was a regular on the AL leaderboard for assists, putouts, and double plays by a first baseman, and he showed soft hands around the bag.

While his WAR of 10.4 is good enough for second on this list, Hosmer played twice as many games for the Royals than Joyner and Aikens.

Hosmer will always be remembered fondly by Royals’ fans for his enthusiasm and toughness. Bringing home a banner didn’t hurt either. His stats make him one of the best first baseman in franchise history.