(Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports)
Nick Pratto had to be feeling fine when the 2018 baseball season ended. The KC Royals’ first round draft pick just the year before, Pratto hit .280 with 14 home runs, 62 RBIs, and a .343 OBP at Class A Lexington.
Pratto’s cap, it seemed, was definitely in the ring to become Eric Hosmer’s long-term replacement at first base, especially after Lucas Duda failed in 2018 to convince anyone he could ever succeed Hosmer, who’d left for San Diego after the 2017 season.
But baseball can be cruel, and it was to Pratto in 2019.