The debut of Kansas City Royals super-prospect Eric Hosmer is officially in the books. Last night’s 3-2 loss at home to the Oakland Athletics was a yawn compared to the great expectations bestowed upon Hosmer’s arrival in the majors, coming down to a decent pitching duel of sorts with the A’s Gio Gonzalez besting the Royals Sean O’Sullivan.
As for Hosmer, he went hitless in four plate appearances, although he was able to draw two walks. He drew 21 total pitches, by far the most on the team, and it displays a keen eye and patience at the plate. Then again, it could have been rookie nerves afraid of swinging at all. That’s probably not the case, however, for someone hitting. 433 at the AAA level. Another bonus, Hosmer also had his first stolen base in the game.
The official attendance at the game was 30,690, and the Royals announced over 9,000 walk-up tickets sold on game day after the announcement of Hosmer’s arrival. If Hosmer delivers at the major league level, you can expect such a swell of ticket sales to continue with fans knowing they’re watching history in the making given the Royals oncoming caravan of prospects.