Lefty Hosmer making impact for Royals

Ozzie Guillen hadn't seen enough of the Royals. That would be the most obvious explanation for the events of last Friday night, when Ozzie's White Sox were trying to escape the bottom of the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium with the score tied 6-6. Alex Gordon had led off the inning with a single, finishing a nine-pitch at-bat against tough left-hander Matt Thornton. Melky Cabrera put down an excellent sacrifice, moving Gordon to second. At that point, Guillen elected to hand Billy Butler an intentional walk setting up a confrontation between Thornton and Eric Hosmer, a rookie left-handed hitter. Guillen apparently didn't receive the memo. Cleveland manager Manny Acta must have read it, because when the Royals last faced the Indians, Acta had Hosmer intentionally walked in the FIRST inning simply because there was a runner in scoring position. Being fair to Guillen, his move was done "by the book" you know, that imaginary baseball Bible which dictates that you set up a possible double play AND make a young left-handed hitter produce against Thornton. Of course we know how it all turned out Hosmer sent an 0-1 pitch screaming over the head of left-fielder Juan Pierre for a game-winning double. Anyone who has watched the Royals this season might have predicted that outcome, in part because it was Hosmer's 12th game-winning RBI. He's one of those guys who somehow can raise his game in clutch situations. "You don't learn that," manager Ned Yost said. "You're born with it." But there was another trend at work, too. When Hosmer was called up in May, he started hitting immediately but pretty much exclusively against right-handed pitchers. Hoz went two months with his average against lefties wallowing below .200. And then, slowly but surely, Hosmer began learning how to hang in, how to lay off those breaking balls that swept way off the plate and critically, how to hit the ball to left field when he was being pitched that way. The line drives started coming. Coincidentally, Hosmer's buddy Mike Moustakas has followed almost the exact same path. The only difference is that it took Moose longer to get going against anyone. Once Moose began making serious contact against right-handers, he began to add some pop to that bottom third of the Royals lineup. But just like Hosmer, Moustakas struggled awhile against lefties. Then the same change occurred, simply a little bit later in the season. Moustakas began ripping everybody, left-handers included, and his average shot up from a low of .184 to somewhere north of .250 which is a lot of base hits once you have so many at-bats. "I was always watching, and talking to Hoz and Gordo (Gordon) about the right approach against lefties," Moustakas said. "(Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer) worked really hard with me to correct a basic flaw in my swing, which got me started. "But it's another, tougher step to hit these great lefties you face in the big leagues. For that, I changed my focus from trying to hit the ball to right-center to making it left-center field. "That gives you a longer look, a better opportunity to stay in on breaking balls that you'd miss if your shoulder is opening up." Hosmer admitted it was tough to make the breakthrough against lefties and, like Moustakas, he credits Gordon with helping him. "We talk all the time, and Gordo has seen these pitchers a lot more than me or Moose," Hosmer said. "He can give us an idea what to expect, how certain pitches move, basically how to attack them as left-handed hitters. "Hitting at this level is about adjustments. You know pitchers are making adjustments against you after each game, maybe each at-bat. They're looking at tape and changing what they're trying to do, so you have to adapt, too." Seitzer laughs at Hosmer's first temporary problem. "Pitchers realized pretty quickly that the guy is a natural hitter who is going to attack the ball and can really kill you," Setizer said. "So they threw him all breaking stuff but then occasionally they'd strike him out with fastballs up high and out of the zone. "He was so desperate to get a fastball that he was swinging at bad pitches. I told him, 'Just because somebody gives you a piece of cheese, that doesn't mean you have to eat it.' " Seitzer is convinced that his young power guys Hosmer, Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez have all the tools to become big-time, run-producing hitters. "I can also picture Gio (Johnny Giavotella) and Esky (Alcides Escobar) as solid .280 hitters, as well," Seitzer said. "They have great hands, and that's the start you need. "After that, you work on fundamentals. And work some more. A guy like Hosmer could hit .275 if he never took an extra swing, or did anything extra. "But he's not like that. Hoz works on everything like crazy, and I don't think he'll ever stop, no matter how well he's doing. Moose is the same way. "Those two didn't just start hitting tough left-handers by accident. There's a learning curve at this level, and they worked at it hard enough to speed up their success." A final note for Ozzie Guillen: Sure, Butler could have beaten you in that ninth inning. He's hitting a little over .290 after five years facing everyone in the big leagues. But wait a minute Hosmer is hitting just about the same, and he just came to the majors in May. Wouldn't a guy who's become a frightening hitter so doggone fast scare you a little bit? Manny Acta seems convinced.