Hosmer homers in first Double-A at-bat

After a hectic week that included a trip to the West Coast for the XM Futures Game, the last thing Eric Hosmer needed was losing his equipment bag. But that's what happened heading into his Texas League debut.

Scrounging equipment from his new teammates, Hosmer homered in his first Double-A at-bat Saturday night as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals cruised to a 10-1 romp over the Springfield Cardinals in the opener of a doubleheader.

"It was a long day," Hosmer said after the Naturals dropped the nightcap, 11-4. "I flew in here, it ended up my equipment bag got lost at the airport. I was using everyone's different equipment. I finally got settled down and the game started."

The third overall pick in the 2008 Draft led off the bottom of the second inning at Arvest Stadium and worked the count full against Springfield starter Nick Addition (4-6).

"I told myself I wanted to see a pitch, see what the new setting is like," Hosmer said. "I ended up working the count to a full count and I said if he throws me a fastball, I'm going to jump on it. He threw me a fastball and I was lucky enough to hit it over the [right-field] fence."

It was an impressive feat but a notch below Mike Moustakas, MLB.com's No. 32 prospect who homered in each of his first two at-bats with the Naturals on April 22.

"He's a special player. It doesn't surprise me he did that," Hosmer said. "When he gets going, he's hard to stop."

Hosmer spent time with his fellow Royals prospect on Sunday as members of the U.S. team at the XM Futures Game. While Moustakas was held hitless, Hosmer went 4-for-5 with two RBIs in the nationally televised game.

"It was an unbelievable experience," the 20-year-old Florida native said. "Spending time with all those prospects, I had my family out there, the game was on ESPN so all my family and friends were watching. It was unbelievable.

"The game ended up working out great for me. It was really cool for my grandmothers in Miami and New York to see me on TV. All my buddies were calling me and telling me they watched."

Moustakas was promoted to Triple-A Omaha immediately after the Futures Game. Hosmer was tearing up the Carolina League for Class A Advanced Wilmington when he learned late Friday that he was moving up to Northwest Arkansas.

"It's been a lot of traveling," he said.

Playing alongside Moustakas briefly and now joining Naturals right-hander Aaron Crow, MLB.com's No. 41 prospect, has Hosmer looking ahead to the future in Kansas City.

"Everyone's talking if [Moustakas] was still in this lineup how dangerous it would be," he said. "Even in Wilmington and down to [Class A] Burlington, it's going to be fun to watch when the right group gets together."