After a disappointing 2021 campaign, San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer enters the offseason with doubts about his role as an everyday player. With an outsized contract and uninspiring 102 wRC+, the 31-year-old was often the scapegoat for the Friars second half collapse. Across 565 plate appearances, Hosmer recorded a .269/.337/.395 slash, 12 homers, five steals and 118 runs-plus-RBI, posting his worst offensive output since 2014. Although he's still signed through 2025, it's possible the Padres force him into a reduced role in 2022. With a vanilla fantasy profile, a reduction in volume would further dampen Hosmer's marginal value. Consider him an option only in deep leagues going into early drafts.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the San Francisco Giants, according to MLB.com. After posting a .851 OPS in the shortened 2020 season, Hosmer's been more of an average hitter this season. He's slashed .270/.338/.396 with just 12 HRs in 149 games. Jake Cronenworth will play first in his place, and Ha-Seong Kim will start at second and bat sixth. His first season in the Majors hasn't gone as planned, as he's hit a meagre .205 and owns a .629 OPS. There is no reason for fantasy managers in any league to pick Kim off the waiver wire, as there are far better options out there.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Padres will match up with right-handed starter Adam Wainwright but will do so without Hosmer in the lineup. The veteran is batting .267 with a .335 on-base percentage, 11 home runs, and five stolen bases in 524 plate appearances this season. Jake Cronenworth, who is hitting second on Saturday, is moving over to first base to start in Hosmer's place. Hosmer has started each of the Padres' previous seven games, but his playing time will be worth monitoring for fantasy managers down the stretch if Cronenworth continues to start games at first base.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer will begin Saturday's game against the Houston Astros on the bench. Hosmer is batting .268 with a .336 on-base percentage, 11 home runs, and five stolen bases in 486 plate appearances this season. The Padres are starting Jurickson Profar at first base against Houston left-hander Framber Valdez. Profar, who is hitting eighth on Saturday, is batting .242 with a .347 on-base percentage, three home runs, and 10 stolen bases in 345 plate appearances this season. Fantasy managers are probably better off looking elsewhere for streaming help on Saturday.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer reached base in four of his five plate appearances Friday night, going 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored against the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite appearing like the odd man out following the trade deadline acquisition of Adam Frazier, Hosmer has maintained his everyday role, and in fact has performed quite well, slashing .319/.413/.468 over his last 30 games and 94 at-bats. Fantasy managers will want more production than his .743 OPS, 10 homers, and five steals on the season, but he could slide into the corner-infield slot in the deepest leagues.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer went 2-for-3 with a home run, walk, two RBI and three runs scored Monday against the Miami Marlins. Hosmer played a key role in the 8-3 victory, cranking a solo shot in the second then providing an insurance RBI single in the eighth frame. The 31-year-old snapped his nine-game hitting streak on August 6 but has stayed hot with two long balls the past three contests. Hosmer's posted modest offensive numbers this year, slashing .279/.343/.401 with 10 homers, five steals and 92 runs-plus-RBI in 397 plate appearances. While the average support is welcome to fantasy managers, his counting stats have lagged other cold corner options. With the prospect of outfielder Wil Myers platooning at first base once shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (shoulder) gets outfield reps, Hosmer's fantasy appeal should remain limited to deeper and NL-only leagues.

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored in the team's 5-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. The single extended his current hitting streak to nine games. Hosmer has been on a roll for about a month now. In July, he slashed .370/.446/.507 while tallying 12 RBI and 10 runs. He's maintaining a career-best 47.9% hard-hit rate on the year. However, he hasn't been getting much lift on the ball. His 4.2 degree average launch angle is about half of where it was at last year (4.2 degrees) and it's contributed to Hosmer hitting just eight home runs so far this year. Hosmer should continue to be a solid source of batting average help going forward, but don't expect much in terms of power.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Judge went from being a late scratch to hitting a tiebreaking single in a two-run 10th inning to help the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the second straight day, 3-1 on Wednesday night. Judge was taken out of the lineup about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Although no announcement was made about why, the All-Star right fielder struck out in the fifth pinch-hitting for Estevan Florial. Judge returned to the team Tuesday after going on the COVID-19 injured list July 16. New York also had a big night off the field. The Yankees reached a deal to get All-Star slugger Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not yet been announced and was subject to approval of medical records of the players involved. Greg Allen was hit by a pitch from Pete Fairbanks (3-4) leading off the 10th, putting runners on first and second. Judge... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Judge went from being a late scratch to hitting a tiebreaking single in a two-run 10th inning to help the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the second straight day, 3-1 on Wednesday night. Judge was taken out of the lineup about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Although no announcement was made about why, the All-Star right fielder struck out in the fifth pinch-hitting for Estevan Florial. Judge returned to the team Tuesday after going on the COVID-19 injured list July 16. New York also had a big night off the field. The Yankees reached a deal to get All-Star slugger Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not yet been announced and was subject to approval of medical records of the players involved. Greg Allen was hit by a pitch from Pete Fairbanks (3-4) leading off the 10th, putting runners on first and second. Judge... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Judge went from being a late scratch to hitting a tiebreaking single in a two-run 10th inning to help the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the second straight day, 3-1 on Wednesday night. Judge was taken out of the lineup about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Although no announcement was made about why, the All-Star right fielder struck out in the fifth pinch-hitting for Estevan Florial. Judge returned to the team Tuesday after going on the COVID-19 injured list July 16. New York also had a big night off the field. The Yankees reached a deal to get All-Star slugger Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not yet been announced and was subject to approval of medical records of the players involved. Greg Allen was hit by a pitch from Pete Fairbanks (3-4) leading off the 10th, putting runners on first and second. Judge... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Judge went from being a late scratch to hitting a tiebreaking single in a two-run 10th inning to help the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the second straight day, 3-1 on Wednesday night. Judge was taken out of the lineup about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Although no announcement was made about why, the All-Star right fielder struck out in the fifth pinch-hitting for Estevan Florial. Judge returned to the team Tuesday after going on the COVID-19 injured list July 16. New York also had a big night off the field. The Yankees reached a deal to get All-Star slugger Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not yet been announced and was subject to approval of medical records of the players involved. Greg Allen was hit by a pitch from Pete Fairbanks (3-4) leading off the 10th, putting runners on first and second. Judge... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered twice, the first a second-inning blast that bounced out of Progressive Field and almost dinged a bicyclist pedaling on a street, and the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Wednesday. Reyes’ leadoff homer in the second glanced off the pedestrian bridge in left field and landed on the plaza area between the ballpark and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The ball traveled an estimated 446 feet. Reyes wasn’t done. He finished off Cleveland’s three-homer inning in the third with his 19th of the season, a 421-foot drive to center. César Hernández and José Ramírez also homered in the inning for Cleveland. Kwang Hyun Kim (6-6) gave up all four homers and lost for the first time since June 20. Zach Plesac (6-3) gave up two runs in five innings. Dylan Carlson homered for St. Louis. BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1, 1ST GAME RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1, 2ND GAME BOSTON (AP) — Rookie starter Tanner Houck struck out seven over four innings and Boston beat Toronto... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered twice, the first a second-inning blast that bounced out of Progressive Field and almost dinged a bicyclist pedaling on a street, and the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Wednesday. Reyes’ leadoff homer in the second glanced off the pedestrian bridge in left field and landed on the plaza area between the ballpark and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The ball traveled an estimated 446 feet. Reyes wasn’t done. He finished off Cleveland’s three-homer inning in the third with his 19th of the season, a 421-foot drive to center. César Hernández and José Ramírez also homered in the inning for Cleveland. Kwang Hyun Kim (6-6) gave up all four homers and lost for the first time since June 20. Zach Plesac (6-3) gave up two runs in five innings. Dylan Carlson homered for St. Louis. BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1, 1ST GAME RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1, 2ND GAME BOSTON (AP) — Rookie starter Tanner Houck struck out seven over four innings and Boston beat Toronto... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered twice, the first a second-inning blast that bounced out of Progressive Field and almost dinged a bicyclist pedaling on a street, and the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Wednesday. Reyes’ leadoff homer in the second glanced off the pedestrian bridge in left field and landed on the plaza area between the ballpark and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The ball traveled an estimated 446 feet. Reyes wasn’t done. He finished off Cleveland’s three-homer inning in the third with his 19th of the season, a 421-foot drive to center. César Hernández and José Ramírez also homered in the inning for Cleveland. Kwang Hyun Kim (6-6) gave up all four homers and lost for the first time since June 20. Zach Plesac (6-3) gave up two runs in five innings. Dylan Carlson homered for St. Louis. BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1, 1ST GAME BOSTON (AP) — Robbie Ray pitched six strong innings, Randal Grichuk homered and drove in three runs, and Toronto Jays beat Boston in... [More]

San Diego Padres outfielder Trent Grisham and first baseman Eric Hosmer are not in the lineup Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics. Both left-handed batters will take a seat against southpaw starter Sean Manaea. Despite a solid .858 OPS against lefties, Grisham is hitting just .162 in his last 10 contests and will make way for utilityman Jurickson Profar. With 10 steals and only two homers in 303 plate appearances, Profar is just a DFS lottery ticket for speed. Infielder Jake Cronenworth will slide to first base in place of Hosmer, who will likely see more time on the bench with second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier now in the mix. While Hosmer has been the subject of trade rumors, his absence from the lineup appears matchup-related. Without much power (eight homers) and a .712 OPS, Hosmer's stock will take a further hit as he sees fewer opportunities.

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ HERE WE GO AGAIN The Dodgers and Giants are back at it, renewing their long-standing rivalry in San Francisco with left-hander Julio Urias (12-3, 3.63 ERA) on the mound for Los Angeles against Logan Webb (4-3, 3.54) in the opener of a three-game series. San Francisco took three of four at Dodger Stadium last week and leads the NL West by two games over the defending World Series champions. TAMPA HEAT After losing three of four in Boston last weekend, the New York Yankees play another AL East rival on the road when they begin a critical three-game series at Tampa Bay. New York (51-47) is facing some important decisions with Friday’s trade deadline looming, and owner Hal Steinbrenner, who lives in the area, likely will be in attendance at Tropicana Field. Yankees All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge and catcher Kyle Higashioka took another step toward returning from the COVID-19 injured list by taking batting practice Monday at Steinbrenner... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors Tuesday: ___ HERE WE GO AGAIN The Dodgers and Giants are back at it, renewing their long rivalry in San Francisco with left-hander Julio Urias (12-3, 3.63 ERA) on the mound for Los Angeles against Logan Webb (4-3, 3.54) in the opener of a three-game series. San Francisco took three of four at Dodger Stadium last week and leads the NL West by two games over the defending World Series champions. TAMPA HEAT After losing three of four in Boston last weekend, the New York Yankees play another AL East rival on the road when they begin a critical three-game series at Tampa Bay. New York (51-47) is facing some important decisions with Friday’s trade deadline looming, and owner Hal Steinbrenner, who lives in the area, likely will be in attendance at Tropicana Field. Yankees All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge and catcher Kyle Higashioka took another step toward returning from the COVID-19 injured list by taking batting practice Monday at Steinbrenner Field... [More]

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier to the playoff-contending San Diego Padres for three minor leaguers. Frazier was the National League starter in the All-Star Game this month. He leads the majors with 125 hits and is batting .324. He'll join a potent Padres infield that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer. Pittsburgh is receiving infielder Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-hander Michell Miliano in the swap. Pittsburgh is sending $1,403,575 to the Padres in the deal, accounting for most of the remaining $1,572,043 in Frazier's $4.3 million salary. The MLB trade deadline is this Friday. The Padres are 58-44 and third in the NL West, and hold a cushion for the second wild-card spot. The Pirates have the second-worst record in the NL. Frazier was pulled in the eighth inning as part of a double switch in Sunday's 6-1 loss at San Francisco. Marcano is San Diego’s No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old... [More]

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier to the playoff-contending San Diego Padres for three minor leaguers. Frazier was the National League starter in the All-Star Game this month. He leads the majors with 125 hits and is batting .324. He'll join a potent Padres infield that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer. Pittsburgh is receiving infielder Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-hander Michell Miliano in the swap. Pittsburgh is sending approximately $1.4 million to the Padres in the deal. The MLB trade deadline is this Friday. The Padres are 58-44 and third in the NL West, and hold a cushion for the second wild-card spot. The Pirates have the second-worst record in the NL. Frazier was pulled in the eighth inning as part of a double switch in Sunday's 6-1 loss at San Francisco. Marcano is San Diego’s No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old shortstop made his big league debut this year, hitting .182 in 44 at-bats with the Padres. He was sent down to Triple-A El Paso in early June. He’s hit .272 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 44 games for El Paso this year. Suwinski, a 15th-round draft pick by the Padres in 2016, has hit .269 with 15 homers and 37 RBIs for Double-A San Antonio this season. The 21-year-old Miliano has made 22 relief appearances this year with two Class A teams, going 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what's happening around the majors today: ___ FRAZIER TO FRIARS An already impressive Padres infield is about to get even better with the addition of All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier. Pittsburgh has agreed to trade Frazier San Diego for three minor leaguers, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The trade is pending physicals. Pittsburgh is sending approximately $1.4 million to the Padres in the deal. Frazier was the National League starter in the All-Star Game this month. He leads the majors with 125 hits and is batting .324. He’ll join a potent Padres infield that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer. Pittsburgh is receiving infielder Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-hander Michell Miliano in the swap. The Padres are 58-44 and third in the NL West, and hold a cushion for the second wild-card spot. The Pirates have... [More]