In the first five seasons of his career, 26-year-old Eric Hosmer has been more of a good, rather than great, hitter. With a career .282/.339/.434 triple slash and a season high of 19 home runs, Hosmer is only a slightly-above average first baseman at the plate.
Yes, Hosmer has been a star because of his ability hit in the clutch and his outstanding defense that has won him three Gold Gloves. However, Hosmer has never been the middle-of-the-order masher that teams can build their offense around.
That’s pretty much what you have to become to be among the best first basemen in the game such as Miguel Cabrera, Paul Goldschmidt, and Anthony Rizzo.