Padres: Eric Hosmer is playing like a man on a mission

It’s safe to say Eric Hosmer is locked in at the dish right now.

Through the first two games of the season, the San Diego Padres first baseman has popped a pair of home runs, driven in six runs and carries a ludicrous (and wholly unsustainable) .857/.875/1.857. A pair of three-hit efforts will certainly go a long way toward getting a guy rolling early on, that’s for sure.

“It starts with: Eric wants to be up there in those moments,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler told MLB.com. “He does a good job of being aggressive on the pitches that he can get the barrel to.”

According to MLB.com, Hosmer’s 13 total bases through San Diego’s first two games are a franchise record. If the Padres slugger can keep this up and build off his 2020 performance, this lineup will be, hands-down, the deepest in all of baseball.

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During the offseason, I talked about how Hosmer re-worked his swing last year. I also opined San Diego should look at platooning him at first this year, given his historical struggles against left-handed pitching. But three of his hits in this opening series have come against, you guessed it, left-handers.

Padres offense, as a whole, is strong

Heading into Saturday’s action, the team boasts the second-highest OPS and slugging percentage in the National League, trailing only the division-rival Dodgers. Hosmer, obviously, has been a huge part of that.

Here’s why Hosmer’s success has been so critical for the Friars. So far, the team’s other big names have been ice-cold. Now, that likely won’t last too long – simply because these guys are too good to be kept down for long. But right now, Manny Machado is 0-for-7 and Fernando Tatis Jr. is 1-for-8.

Despite that, San Diego is 2-0 to open the year for the third consecutive season. Hosmer has put the offense on his shoulders and carried the load. Two games represent just a minuscule fraction of a length regular season. But a hot Eric Hosmer is nothing but good news for Tingler and his ball club.