Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins hit his 10th home run in his 17th major league game Saturday, making him the fastest player in MLB history to reach the double-digit mark. All the more remarkable: Joey Davis, the scout who implored the Phillies to draft Hoskins out of Sacramento State in 2014 (they did, in the fifth round), only saw him as a potential 15- to 20-homer type at best, according to Matt Gelb of Philly.com. Davis was nevertheless bullish on Hoskins, and after the first baseman/outfielder joined the Phillies organization, minor league hitting coordinator Andy Tracy told him to add a leg kick in order to generate more power. Hoskins did, and both that mechanical adjustment and some mental tweaks he made with the help of Double-A Reading hitting coach Frank Cacciatore turned him into the slugger he is today, Gelb explains. “With scouting, it’s a team effort,” said Davis, who Gelb notes is close with Hoskins to this day. “We have to give them good players, and they have to do a good job of coaching. That’s what happens. You have a kid like this who is willing to learn and put in the work. He has the body and the size. So it was worth a shot in the fifth round.”
More from Philadelphia and the National League:
- While Hoskins looks like an excellent find for the Phillies, they still own the majors’ worst record (37-81) and appear to be a long ways from contention. One of the team’s problems this season has been a starting rotation that entered Saturday 23rd in the league in ERA (4.82) and 20th in fWAR (6.5). Manager Pete Mackanin would like to see the front office add outside help to the staff over the winter. “I think we have to upgrade,” Mackanin told reporters, including Ben Harris of MLB.com. Among the Phillies’ young starters, the only locks for rotation spots next year look to be Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and Vince Velasquez, Harris notes. Veteran reinforcements could be on the way, then, and Mackanin suggested that the Phillies should look for more Jeremy Hellickson types or “try to do even better.”
- Catcher Kurt Suzuki sat on the open market until January before taking a one-year, $2.5MM deal from the Braves last winter, but the production he has posted this season means he could find a deal quicker next offseason, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Serving as Tyler Flowers’ backup, Suzuki has slashed a career-best .268/.342/.546 with 15 home runs in 220 plate appearances, and he credits “always positive” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer for some of his success. Suzuki’s contract status gives him an uncertain future beyond this season, though he informed Burns that he doesn’t necessarily have to be a starter going forward and expressed a willingness to re-sign with the Braves. “Yeah, I don’t see why not,” he said. “It’s a great place. I like all the guys here and stuff. But there’s a lot of factors: family, my kids starting school (in California), proximity to home (Hawaii). There’s a lot of things you can factor in, but you know, this is a place I’ve grown to love.”
- Infielder Jonathan Villar looked like a long-term core piece for the Brewers last year when he slashed .285/.369/.457 with 19 home runs and stole a major league-high 62 bases as a shortstop/third baseman. That performance was good enough for the Brewers to offer Villar $23MM on an extension in the offseason. Villar rejected the Brewers’ proposal, though, and has taken major steps backward this season as a second baseman, having hit .227/.283/.348 with nine homers and 23 steals over 393 PAs. Now, thanks to his sharp decline from 2016 to ’17, the Brewers are unsure of what they have in the 26-year-old Villar, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will commit to Villar at the keystone again next year or look elsewhere, as they did when they acquired free agent-to-be Neil Walker from the Mets a couple weeks ago. General manager David Stearns hasn’t made any decisions yet for 2018, but he admits there’s uncertainty regarding Villar. “How do you judge him?” Stearns said. “I think it’s the right question. I just don’t have a good answer for you.”
Would much preferred to have seen Blake Lively pitch tonight instead of Ben.
At least someone is good. Maybe we will get another good player next June too. When we select Singer 1.1
I like the idea of Cesar Hernandez straight up for Justin Verlander. He fits the Hellickson type or even better lol.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
Baseball is the hardest sport to scout. A very minor tweak can change everything for a player and suddenly a nobody becomes somebody.
Phillies are 47-81 ** give them SOME credit lmao
Honestly man,
Just move Vinny to the bullpen
Nola’s pretty much an ace or a 2
Henderson Alvarez can be a very solid 2-3 guy holding a spot for Kilyome
Eickhoff seems like a 3 or a 4
And you have Pivetta, Lively, Eshleman, Eflin and Jake Thompson- all we need is 1 to step up and be the 5
For 2018- you literally need to add one Hellickson like guy and by 2019 Sixto and Kilyome could be up. We’ll be fine.
Henderson Alvarez might be a 0. He’s no guarantee to be a competent mlb pitcher anymore. If Velasquez goes to the pen that gives you Nola and eick. You guys need some MLB innings. I’d think realistically you need 2 pitchers even with Velasquez in the rotation. You’ve seen what eflin, pivetta, lively bring to the table and it isn’t much. Eickhoff and Nola are the only guys you can pencil into that rotation with any certainty. Maybe Velasquez if he can avoid throwing 25 pitches every inning, maybe Alvarez if he can still pitch in the bigs. It’s an if though the guy didn’t pitch that great in independent ball, you can’t expect a #2 or 3.
I actually kind of like Pivetta. I know his numbers are terrible right now, but a lot of that is an unsustainable home – run rate. His slider seems like a really promising pitch, at the very least, and he’s got solid fastball velocity. If the team were any good orderly, then yeah, you replace him, but since they’re rebuilding anyways, I’d be content to give him a chance to see if he can be a back – end starter for a while
Correct, any fan that counts on Henderson Alvarez as their team’s #2 starter, just screams a letdown waiting to happen…
As of next season, I believe, the most you can expect or hope for out of Alvarez is just that he will be healthy and simply available. Now, if he is healthy at the beginning of spring training, then you can make some judgments of what you may be able to expect…But to pencil him in as your #2 right now, even the Phillies nor the Padres are honestly THAT bad…
If proven healthy, with a decent spring training, he could provide the Phillies with an option as a fairly solid #4 or #5…Barring a miracle, expecting anything more from Alvarez is just setting yourself up for what is likely to be a fairly sizeable letdown…
I will gladly take another year of Zuk and Flow!
I would too, but his quote about family makes me think he wants to be back out west.
Then the phillies still have Appel in the farm as well, I think they are gonna end up trading Joesph if Hoskins keeps this pace up.
Appel’s been terrible or hurt for his entire professional career. He’s nothing more than a lottery ticket at this point, certainly not one of Philadelphia’s better prospects
His current pace would put him at almost 100 home runs over the course of a season. I don’t think he has to sustain that pace for the Phillies to move on from Joseph. I’m pretty sure they’ve already decided on starting Hoskins at first next year.
Gotta see how the league adjusts, then see if he can. Lots of guys are great when they’re virtually unknown by the pitchers & he only gets fastballs. Not saying he won’t be a stud, just let’s see.
Yeah, suprisingly Flowers and Suzuki, two catchers looking to resurrect their careers that no one else really wanted, when they signed with the Braves, have combined to form one of the best offensive and all-around catching combinations in the NL.
From a power and average standpoint, getting on base more frequently, and by all accounts with improved advanced metrics both Flowers and Suzuki have completely stepped up their games to new levels..
Also, Flowers has maintained his ability and reputation as one of the best framers in baseball, and he’s also increased his CS% from behind the plate. As for Suzuki, even he has improved his all-around defensive Gane with with the Braves. Suzuki will never be an elite defender, but he’s been at least fairly average behind the plate and by all accounts and reports, much like Flowers, he’s been able to call good games for his pitchers…
No one really expected Flowers and Suzuki to ultimately form one of the best catching duos in baseball, yet they certainly have. Hopefully, the Braves are able to keep this combination together for at least one or two more seasons, until the Braves are able to groom their catcher of the future. That player should ultimately be either one of Brett Cumberland, Lucas Herbert, or Alex Jackson. Although, they will simply be holding down the fort until super prospect, William Contreras, or the more raw, yet still highly talented Abraham Gutierrez makes it to the show…If I was a betting man, I’d say ultimately William Contreras is the Braves “catcher of the future!!” …
Willson’s little brother is an absolute stud, and he very well could be even better than his older brother…Although, he still has about 3 years to go, so alot can go on from now until then, you juse never know with prospects…regardless of their pedigree..
The Braves have been blessed with the production from Suzuki and Flowers. Unfortunately it isn’t likely they’ll be able to repeat that next season as well.
I agree that Contreras will likely be the Braves next home grown everyday stud catcher. But as you said that will be some time away.
Don’t be shocked if at some point next season Kade Scivicque gets the call to Atlanta as a backup if an injury forces the situation. Scivicque is far from flashy, but he does have enough tools to be a competent backup. From my understanding several of the Braves prospect pitchers really like him behind the plate too.
Phillies brass arent exactly known for knowledge, as far as prospects go. I trust the scouts but the management for the phillies…Clueless. . 3 guy’s alone they kept crying arent ready, are playing well in the big leagues. Seems the only thing Klentak knows, Adding mediocre players by waiver wire, poor trades and signing bad free agents
VV needs to be the Phils closer