On April 5, in the ninth inning of a forgettable blowout loss in the Royals’ second game of the season, Eric Hosmer did something that by any definition was remarkable.
And hardly anyone noticed.
So far this season, entering Sunday’s games, more than 77,000 pitches had been thrown and more than 13,000 put into play by the planet’s best hitters. And precisely one pitch has been hit harder than what Hosmer did to Justin Haley’s changeup that beautiful afternoon in Minnesota.
The pitch hung near the inside corner, but up around the belt. This is Hosmer’s favorite part of the strike zone, and he hit the ball 118.