No longer ‘jumping off the ledge,’ Rhys Hoskins is putting together another great year
Last week, Rhys Hoskins became the 10th player in Phillies franchise history to record at least four seasons with 25 or more home runs. The shortlist consists of Wall of Famers, some Hall of Famers, a soon-to-be Wall of Famer, someone who will be a Wall of Famer and could be a Hall of Famer and someone who will be a Hall of Famer that should also be a Wall of Famer. Here it is:
- Mike Schmidt (13 seasons)
- Ryan Howard (7)
- Del Ennis (7)
- Pat Burrell (6)
- Chuck Klein (5)
- Chase Utley (4)
- Scott Rolen (4)
- Greg Luzinski (4)
- Dick Allen (4)
- RHYS HOSKINS (4)
Like it or not, the 29-year-old has already established himself as one of the better power hitters in team history. Playoff pedigree is missing from his resume, but it’s possible that could change this October.
And to the surprise of only a few, Hoskins is quietly putting together another excellent season. He is slashing .247/.340/.474 with 26 home runs, 63 RBIs and a 127 wRC+. He ranks in the top 10 among qualified National League hitters in both home runs and walk percentage, which is not surprising to anyone who has grown accustomed to watching him over the years.
Hoskins has largely done it by being the same hitter he’s been since he was called up five years ago with a few notable differences. His fly ball rate, which usually hovers around 50%, is down in favor of slightly more line drives (a good thing) and more ground balls (a bad thing). His .284 batting average on balls in play is up 14 points from last year.
Hoskins, according to Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long, did not need to make any drastic adjustments to his swing this season. A few small tweaks, however, has helped the Phillies first baseman maintain a consistent level of production.
“He’s in a better spot, hitting wise,” Long said during the most recent Phillies roadtrip. “His hands aren’t buried behind his head. He’s actually quieted down some of his movements. And there’s more consistency there.”
Consistency is what Hoskins has been needing to find over the last five years. The production is there from year-to-year, but the journey to getting there is rarely smooth. Hoskins could hit home run after home run for a couple weeks at a time and carry his team, but those tears are usually followed up with a dry spell. Those cold streaks have made Hoskins a somewhat frustrating player to watch at times.
| Best Month | Worst Month | |
| 2018 | June — 1.088 OPS with 8 HRs, 22 RBIs | May — .551 OPS with 2 HRs, 9 RBIs |
| 2019 | April — 1.001 OPS with 8 HRs, 24 RBIs | September — .624 OPS with 4 HRs, 10 RBIs |
| 2021 | July — 1.163 OPS with 6 HRs, 19 RBIs | June — .582 OPS with 6 HRs, 13 RBIs |
| 2022 | July — 1.026 OPS with 7 HRs, 15 RBIs | April — .672 OPS with 2 HRs, 7 RBIs |
His worst struggles of the season came in April, where he slashed .197/.303/.368. Since then, Hoskins has posted an OPS of at least .730 in all other months. He has an .843 OPS overall since May 1. Peaks and valleys have not defined Hoskins’ season up to this point. His longest 0-fer this season stands at 13. Last season, Hoskins managed to go a career-high 0-for-33 and 0-for-21 in the same month.
His ability to reset a bit faster has cut down on some of those frustrating cold spells.
“I think that’s what he’s done. He’s reset a lot earlier and he’ll even say it. He goes ‘Uh oh.’ And I go, ‘No. This is not an uh oh. We’re OK,'” Long said.
This week was a good example of Hoskins being able to prevent a cold streak from spiraling out of control. He entered Wednesday’s game against Cincinnati on an 0-for-11 with two strikeouts. Six of those outs came on balls in play that were hit at least 90 mph or harder.
“And usually, I’ll find a little something in his swing that we can adjust or kind of fix mechanically,” Long said. “Or it could just be a mental process where he starts to doubt himself and I can say ‘Look, in your last 10 at-bats, you’ve had seven really good at-bats.’ ‘Oh okay, but I’m 1-for-10.’ ‘Right, I know you’re 1-for-10, but we gotta look at the quality of your at-bats’ and kind of keep that in mind and that’s helped him, which he says, ‘not jump off the ledge.’”
A hard-hit ball up the middle that glanced off the glove of second baseman Jonathan India was ruled a single. He recorded another hit on a high bouncer that would have been an easy ground ball out if the Reds weren’t playing the infield in to prevent a run. And that was the end of Hoskins’ most recent hitless stretch.
Sometimes, that’s the reward for putting the ball in play.
Since Bryce Harper went down with a fractured left thumb on June 25, Hoskins has a .843 OPS. The fact that J.T. Realmuto (.999 OPS) and Alec Bohm (.864) have outperformed Hoskins since Harper’s injury shows that the Phillies offense is not in the same spot it was over the last two years. Season-ending injuries in back-to-back years to Hoskins turned out to be demoralizing for a Phillies team that tried desperately to sneak into the postseason.
Hoskins’ first full season came in 2018, where he finished with 34 home runs, 96 RBIs and an .850 OPS. He’s on pace to match that home run total this season and perhaps add on in the postseason, where so many other great Phillies sluggers have solidified their place in franchise history.
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