By Seth Herrold
Thursday night, the St. Louis Cardinals lost a heartbreaker in game two of the World Series and there was one big thing I took away from that game. It made me thankful for Eric Hosmer.
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In the ninth inning, with a runner on second, Elvis Andrus hit a ball to the outfield. When Cardinal outfielder John Jay got to the ball, he came up throwing to try and keep the Rangers’ lead runner at third base. The plan worked, but as the ball sailed to home plate, Andrus took advantage and went to second and eventually scored the game-winning run. Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols nearly got to the throw to cut it off and, if he had, he would have held Andrus at first base. And the way the inning played out, he wouldn’t have scored. The game would have gone to extra innings and, while it’s impossible to know how it would have played out, I’m sure Cardinal fans would have rather seen extra innings than the loss. There is the possibility Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina yelled at Pujols to let the ball through, but he appeared to be running pretty hard and never really acted like he wasn’t trying to cut off the ball.
So this tragic turn of events made me appreciate, even more, the talent that is Kansas City Royal Eric Hosmer because there is no doubt in my mind he would have gotten to, and cut off, that throw to the plate. Now, I’m sure someone is reading this and thinking, “How dare he say Hosmer is better than three-time MVP and six-time batting champ Albert Pujols!” I would like to clear this up before I dive into this by saying that Hosmer is better than Pujols. Obviously, Pujols has had a Hall-of-Fame career and has received a lot of hardware and Hosmer has yet to even play a full season in the majors. I’m not even saying Albert is a bad fielder. All I am saying is that at this point, Hosmer is quicker and leaner than Pujols.
If you really wanted a true test of who is quicker, Albert or Hosmer, the best way to determine it would be a foot-race. Since we can’t line up the two and have them race, look at the stolen base stats. Pujols played 20 more games than Hosmer this year and stole two fewer bases. He also attempted to steal six fewer times than Hosmer. The reason for not sending Pujols very often? He has a power hitter’s frame. Nothing wrong with that at all as his 37 home runs would suggest, but it does mean it takes him a little longer to cover ground. I think for anyone who saw Hosmer in action this season at first base, it’s the general concensus he would have cut off that throw. Pujols does have two gold gloves to his credit, including one as recently as 2010. But as is the case with every player as they get older and bigger, their range deteriorates. A younger, trimmer Pujols probably could have gotten to that ball.
Offensively, Pujols still has the edge on Hosmer. Hosmer hit just six points lower than Pujols this season and had just two fewer doubles in 20 fewer games, but his power numbers have yet to mature and that gives Pujols the edge, for now, at the plate.
Upside is a big thing in baseball though and it’s obvious from this point forward, Hosmer is going to continue to get better and better. Pujols is coming off a down year for him going into free agency and it’s almost guaranteed after this season he will not fetch the 10-year, $30 million contract he was looking for in the spring. He has helped his case with a breakout performance in the NLCS, however. Whether he winds up back in St. Louis or not remains to be seen as well.
As a Royals fan, I would never dream of giving up Hosmer, even for Albert Pujols. He has too much up-side and far more years of great baseball left in him than Pujols, simply because he is 10 years younger. In talking with St. Louis fans after last night’s game, however, they wouldn’t trade Pujols for Hosmer either so I guess everybody is happy. Now I just hope Hosmer has the opportunity to make that play in a World Series some day. Hopefully, it’s just a matter of time.