Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Rob Thomson explains why Rhys Hoskins wasn’t added to Phillies’ NLCS roster

Will Rhys Hoskins return in the World Series? (Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)

Rhys Hoskins has made tremendous progress since tearing his left ACL late in Spring Training. The Philadelphia Phillies just didn’t think that the 30-year-old slugger was quite ready to return for the NLCS, which explains his absence from the 26-man roster released Monday morning.

For much of the season, Phillies fans have dreamed of Hoskins returning late in the postseason and hitting a home run that would electrify Citizens Bank Park to a point it hasn’t been since the final out of the 2008 World Series. And that may happen, but not in the NLCS.

“He’s just not quite ready yet, to be perfectly honest,” Thomson said prior to NLCS Game 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I talked to him … trainers have talked to him, and it’s really remarkable where he’s at, to tell you the truth,” Thomson continued. “So we’re still hopeful for the World Series, if we get there and if he can get over the hump and get to the point where he’s comfortable and we’re comfortable, and we’ll get from there.”

Hoskins has targeted a return like what Kyle Schwarber had for the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series pretty much from the moment he sustained his injury. Thomson left open the door for a possible NLCS roster addition last week, calling it “a stretch,” but not ruling it out. He was non-committal on Hoskins’ status for the NLCS Sunday, with the Phillies not needing to submit their roster until 10 a.m. ET Monday morning.

But optimism from fans that the longest-tenured position player on the team would return for the NLCS was dashed Monday when the Hoskins-less roster was unveiled.

“Well, he needs more at-bats, so I think his timing is off a little bit,” Thomson admitted. “Although I’m shocked at where he’s at running, don’t get me wrong, but I’m just not comfortable [with] the way he’s running, yet. But it’s close.”

Hoskins is set to become a free agent after the season, and with the emergence of Bryce Harper as an option at first base and the need for the aforementioned Schwarber to take down the bulk of the DH at-bats, it’s unclear whether he fits in the club’s future. So even if it’s just as a pinch hitter, seeing Hoskins in red pinstripes before the season concludes would be a great story. Perhaps it will come to fruition in the World Series.

The Nuggets

Evan Longoria was a rookie for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and is the last active player from that year’s World Series. Longoria reflected on that in his pregame meeting with the media Monday, as he prepares for another postseason battle with the Phillies:

The Phillies will stick with the same lineup they’ve used against right-handed pitchers for the first two rounds of the playoffs in Game 1 against Zac Gallen:

Did Thomson and the Phillies consider flipping the red-hot Castellanos with a struggling Alec Bohm? “Yeah, we thought about it, we talked about it,” Thomson admitted. “But you gotta expect Bohm and Stott to get going. And, are you messing up the mix by flipping guys? I think Casty is pretty comfortable with where he’s hitting, and it really makes our lineup long. You get that threat down at the bottom of the order, or close to the bottom.”