Much of what the Chicago Cubs did in the offseason was to take a step forward into trying to be an actual competitor in the National League. They signed 10 players to MLB deals, addressing needs in the infield, outfield, starting rotation and in the bullpen. As we know, every single move isn't going to work out, but there was a common theme for all them overall, they were at least going to improve the floor from players that were on the 2022 roster. Again, that has been true for the majority of the free agents that were signed, but the Cubs have also managed to replace Frank Schwindel with someone worse.
I haven't been a fan of this signing ever since it was first rumored, so I'm more pissed off at the front office than the player. It's not Eric Hosmer's fault that he's still on the roster or that he keeps getting starts. That's on the front office and on the manager. For most fans paying attention, they knew Hosmer was not going to be good, or even OK. This is a guy who has been trending down for five years and in 2022, he was bad for most of the season, his overall numbers only looking decent because of a hot start in April.
What makes it worse is that the Cubs can clearly see that the Hosmer experiment isn't working, as they called up left-handed hitting first base prospect Matt Mervis in the first week of May after spending a few weeks saying they didn't see Mervis coming up until the summer. But for some reason, Hosmer is still on the team and despite his diminished role, continues to hurt the Cubs at the plate.
After going 0-for-2 on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros, and then getting pinch hit for late in the game, Hosmer has reached 100 plate appearances with the Cubs. Here are his numbers so far in 2023.
Eric Hosmer Through 100 PA
.234 Batting Average
.280 On Base Percentage
.330 Slugging Percentage
2 Home Runs
14 RBI
7 Runs
25 Strikeouts
6 Walks
68 wRC+
67 OPS+
-0.4 WAR
Entering Wednesday's series finale against the Astros, there are eight players with 100 or more plate appearances on the Cubs. Out of those eight players, Hosmer ranks last in batting average, OBP, slugging, OPS, wRC+ and OPS+.
In 2022, Frank Schwindel played in 75 games for the Cubs and had 292 plate appearances. His season slash line was .229/.277/.358, which resulted in a 78 wRC+. And don't get me wrong, we all remember, Schwindel was bad last year and yet his .635 OPS is still higher than Hosmer's current .610.
You know what's crazy, some fans were still defending Hosmer because he got off to a decent start. Well, let's review that. Here are Hosmer's first 53 plate appearances in 2023, from Opening Day through April 19, when he went 2-for-5, with a home run against the Oakland A's.
Eric Hosmer's First 15 Games
.245/.288/.347, 75 wRC+, 9 K, 4 BB
Wow, so productive, 25 percent worse than league average. Here's what he's done in his last 47 plate appearances.
Eric Hosmer's Last 16 Games
.222/.255/.311, 54 wRC+, 16 K, 2 BB
I'm glad that the Cubs have removed Hosmer from a regular starter, but there's no reason he should still be on the team. So far in May, he's 4-for-22, and in seven games Hosmer has hit into three double plays, while recording zero extra base hits.
You can DFA Eric Hosmer any day now, Cubs. It's OK to admit when you were wrong.
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