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Eric Hosmer opened his season in the Pacific Coast League, having made just 211 plate appearances above Single-A. This year was supposed to be about development, progress, consolidation. Hosmer is considered an elite prospect, sure, but he's only 21. No need for the Kansas City Royals to rush him ... or so we thought.

After 26 games at Omaha, the parent club has seen enough. Hosmer has been called up to KC. He'll make his major league debut on Friday, starting at first base in the opener of a weekend series against the A's.

Woe unto you, Oakland pitching staff. There's not a hitter at any level of professional baseball who's been a tougher out than Hosmer thus far. He leads all minor leaguers — everyone, at every level — in batting average (.439) and on-base percentage (.525). He's hitting .500/.568/.813 against left-handed pitching and .409/.505/.470 against right-handers. He went 3-for-5 on Wednesday, 2-for-3 on Tuesday, and 3-for-4 on Monday. He's homered three times and he's swiped three bags in three attempts. He's walked more often than he's struck out. Last season, across two levels, the kid hit .338/.406/.571 with 20 home runs and 14 steals.

Basically, this is a hitter who hasn't demonstrated any obvious flaws over his last 600-plus plate appearances, so the Royals have decided that he's ready for the Jedi Trials, regardless of the arbitration clock. (Presumably they intend to buy out those years). Hosmer is up, and you should go get him.



No, you're probably not desperate to add a first baseman to your fantasy roster right now, not on May 5. It's a deep position, loaded with options. Hosmer is an exceptional talent, however, the third overall pick in the '08 draft, a top-10 prospect according to everyone. This is one of those fantasy recommendations that we don't need to qualify with the standard "A.L.-only add" or "deep mixed league" boilerplate. He's just a guy you want to pick-up, period. Great potential, ridiculous performance to this point. Hosmer may not launch 30 bombs as a rookie, but his on-base skills are evident, and he should soon find himself in position to drive in runs. This is an actionable event. So act. There are no can't-miss prospects, obviously, and only a small number of unlikely-to-miss prospects. But with Hosmer, the best-case scenario is worth a small risk.

And as 'Duk notes, the Royals have a few more interesting prospects on deck, too. Feel free to talk up your team in comments, KC fans. Or simply say farewell to sleeping sleeper Kila Ka'aihue, optioned to Omaha.

• By now, you surely know the Brandon Lyon story. Here's a link to Wednesday's post, just in case. Lyon has been placed on the DL due to biceps tendinitis, a partial tear of his rotator cuff, and his awful, awful pitching. Mark Melancon will close for Houston in Lyon's absence; Wilton Lopez is likely Plan B.

• While we're talking closers, we should note that Cards reliever Eduardo Sanchez just picked up his third save, imperfectly (1.0 IP, 2 BB, 0 Ks). St. Louis has played only 32 games, yet already five different pitchers have earned saves. Sanchez has the most recent two, but also the most recent loss. He's pitched three straight days, so don't panic if he rests on Friday. Jake Westbrook took a decent turn for the Cardinals on Thursday, unexpectedly striking out eight Marlins over 6.1 respectable innings. He'll get the Cubs at Wrigley next week, then likely follow with a two-starter (vs. PHI, at KC).

• Chase Utley is reportedly "ready to intensify his workouts," which might simply mean that he's moving forward with a program of rigorous toe-touching. Not sure. CSNPhilly claims that he could be ready for extended spring training games. There's hope here, but no firm ETA. I don't dare guess.

• John Lackey was punished by the Angels on Thursday, particularly by the top of the order. Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick combined to go 7-for-12 in the game, as LA cruised, 11-0. Lackey allowed eight of the runs, along with 10 hits and three walks. His ERA now sits at 7.16 and his WHIP is 1.74. He's had three decent starts and three unforgivable starts so far; there is no middle ground with Lackey, it seems. Joel Pineiro groundered the Red Sox to death, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out just two. The lightly owned Peter Bourjos (25 percent) went 3-for-4, crossing the plate four times, raising his average to .307.

• Emmanuel Burriss is going to run, mister, and he doesn't really care about game situation or protocol. He's running. Get outta the way. Sure, he may have been caught stealing on Thursday, but that won't deter him in the future. Burriss swiped 15 bags in 18 attempts at Triple-A Fresno (in just 16 games) before he was recalled by the Giants. If he's playing, he's running.

• Sam Fuld (not actually pictured) went 0-for-4 against the Jays, dropping his average to .261. But this is probably just a test of your faith, Fuldian. (No, seriously, this is like a death spiral. And Desmond Jennings is getting on-base at a .397 clip at Triple-A, with two homers and eight steals). David Price overpowered the Bautista-less Jays on Thursday, striking out 10 batters over 8.2 innings, allowing only four hits and no walks. He just missed going the distance in the Rays' 3-1 win, allowing Kyle Farnsworth to earn a layup one-out save.

• Tip of the cap to Ryan Sweeney for his 5-for-6 day. Four of the hits were singles and the other a double, because he's Ryan Sweeney.

• Homer Bailey was plenty effective in his debut, striking out seven batters over 6.0 innings, yielding just four hits and one run to Houston. I don't want to oversell him, though, because there are quality-of-opponent concerns. (No disrespect intended to Jason Bourgeois, who stole his 10th and 11th bases). Here's some Bailey propaganda via MLB.com:

"Homer was great," said catcher Ryan Hanigan, who had three hits and three RBIs. "He changed speeds well all game. He didn't fall into patterns. I think that's what has hurt him in the past; we talked about that before the game. He's throwing all of his pitches for strikes. When he needed pitches, he made them."
Bailey's fastball "was routinely hitting 94 mph," so no issues there. He should face Houston again next week.

• Let's close with one final thought on the Hosmer situation: Call-up day is often the best time to trade prospects in fantasy, because first-year players — regardless of their talent — do not often hit like an age-20 Alex Rodriguez (.358, 36 HR). If I were the dude in comments who's already been offered Jason Heyward for Hosmer, I'd cash out now and take that deal. Those trades are out there in many leagues, and they're worth pursuing. That's part of Hosmer's present value. Another part, of course, is that he's a terrific young hitter, worth owning for the ceiling.

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Photos via AP Images