San Diego Padres News: Three biggest regression candidates for 2020

Eric Hosmer

I feel like Eric Hosmer often gets lost in the flashiness of the Manny Machado-Fernando Tatis Jr. combination along with the young, talented starting rotation. The fact of the matter is that Hosmer had a very productive 2019, slashing .265/.310/.425 with 22 home runs and 99 RBI in 160 games.

His RBI total was good enough for 12th best in the National League and fourth-best among NL first basemen. The former Kansas City Royal signed an eight-year, $144 million before the 2018 season, accelerating the Padres’ rebuild.

Hosmer’s OPS has taken a dip from previous years, in large part, because he’s not taking as many walks. And a closer review of his statistics would suggest that he’s due for a regression in 2020. For whatever reason, even years have not been as kind to him.

Starting from 2014, here are Hosmer’s stats by year:

• 2014: .270/.318/.398 with nine home runs and 58 RBI (99 OPS+)
• 2015: .297/.363/.459 with 18 home runs and 93 RBI (122 OPS+)
• 2016: .266/.328/.433 with 25 home runs and 104 RBI (102 OPS+)
• 2017: .318/.385/.498 with 25 home runs and 94 RBI (133 OPS+)
• 2018: .253/.322/.398 with 18 home runs and 69 RBI (100 OPS+)
• 2019: .265/.310/.425 with 22 home run and 99 RBI (93 OPS+)

Obviously, last year somewhat broke the cycle in terms of the roller coaster OPS+, but it could also be a sign of Hosmer now being on the wrong side of 30.