A CT scan taken of Rhys Hoskins’ jaw revealed a fracture that will likely send the slugger to the disabled list, writes Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Hoskins, who fouled a ball into his jaw Monday, is headed back to Philadelphia for further examination by an oral surgeon to determine whether he’ll require surgery or simply just rest and rehab. Salisbury’s colleague, Corey Seidman, writes that the Phillies look poised to recall prospect Dylan Cozens from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace Hoskins on the active roster.
Hoskins, 25, took the NL by storm in an explosive rookie season last year, hitting .259/.396/.618 with 18 homers and seven doubles in just 212 trips to the plate. His 2018 work has been solid but diminished, as he’s currently sporting a .233/.363/.415 slash with six homers in 216 PAs with a considerably higher strikeout rate (21.7 percent in 2017, 28.2 percent in 2018).
With Hoskins out of action for the time being, the Phils will likely turn to Nick Williams, Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr as their primary outfield contingent, though Cozens will surely be dropped into the mix as well. It’s not clear how long Hoskins would be out in either the surgical or non-surgical route of treatment just yet, but manager Gabe Kapler did call a trip to the disabled list likely.
For the 23-year-old Cozens, this’ll represent the first call to the Majors. The 2012 second-round pick has long been considered to be among the Phillies’ top farmhands, but his star has dimmed a bit in recent seasons. Cozens had no trouble with Class-A Advanced pitching (.282/.335/.411) and utterly obliterated Double-A pitchers at the age of 22 (.282/.352/.594), but he faceplanted with a .210/.301/.418 slash in 542 Triple-A PAs last season.
More troubling was Cozens’ 35.8 percent strikeout rate in Lehigh Valley last year, and while his overall batting line has improved to .228/.323/.432, his strikeout rate is up to 38.3 percent. Cozens has walked in 11 percent of his plate appearances in Triple-A, helping to salvage a decent OBP, but his contact issues do present concern about how he’ll handle MLB pitching. As Seidman notes, though, the left-handed-hitting Cozens has been markedly better against right-handed pitching and does have a 40-homer season on his resume in the minors, so he’ll likely be utilized in a platoon capacity in his first stint with the Phils.
Wheres that one philly commenter casey partner of something who reveled about hoskins being the next coming of christ. Dude has a -0.2 war on the year and has been pedestrian at best.
A lot of people touted Hoskins as a budding star, and he probably still is one. It’s no more logical to call him overrated based on 216 plate appearances in 2018 than it is to call him an immediate superstar based on 212 PAs last season.
In all, he’s hit .246/.379/.514 with 3 fWAR and 1.9 rWAR in 102 Major League games so far. That’s a quality start to any big league career, especially when it comes with plenty of hard contact and an excellent walk rate.
Of course there will be some ongoing adjustment phases, but his aggregate body of work is plenty impressive.
Your coupling last years stats when no one had a book on him. This year has been a different tale. Dude looks average at best not a cornerstone of the league let alone the franchise. I guess only time will truly tell if he can be consistant or wash out.
I think that was kind of the point. He’s had a very good start to his career, and he might be a cornerstone type player, but given his service time who knows? Every team’s fanbase has its members who claim that every prospect who comes up is the next Babe Ruth. I think that Hoskins is and will be a very good player, but judging him by the standards of the hardcore Phillies fans who think he is the greatest is doing him, and any player in those circumstances, a major disservice.
I might have something to do with him playing out of position (LF instead of 1B) leading to a -1.3 dWAR detracting from his overall value. But if you want to talk about hyped players, your boy Bellinger isn’t doing too hot either. Usually this kind of thing happens in a player’s sophomore season. At least Rhys doesn’t have a historically bad World Series performance to his name.
I will tell you from a Phillies’ fan perspective , yes he has been impressive, even this year. I’m not announcing him as the Nex greatest thing, but he has traits and skills that don’t come along very often. I’ve watched 30 years of baseball and His eye is incredible, and I would expect him to be able to replicate his success last year/close enough to it, even with the league having a book on him because of his eye for the ball. He is technically playing out of position, but he is taking his lumps too. I expect him to turn it around, heat up with the weather. He started the year off hot , and has adjusted at every level of competition, no reason to think he can’t again, with his eye. He has the look of a winning cornerstone player, he just has to keep doing what he has been doing, minus a tick down due to the competition. He could bust for sure, and I only say that because you can say that about any player, but I feel comfortable saying he has a better chance than most at becoming a cornerstone player, validated by 30 plus years of watching baseball. It’s pretty obvious too, like a brick to forehead obvious.
It’s 2018. Video, data, advance scouting, etc. are at an all-time high. To think that “no one had a book” on Rhys Hoskins’ strengths and weaknesses when he got to the Majors is unequivocally wrong.
A sample of 200 PAs last season wasn’t a large enough one from which to glean any definitive assessments, nor is the near-identical sample of PAs he’s turned in this season. For that matter, the same is true of his 428 career PAs in the Majors.
Rhys Hoskins is a clearly gifted hitter and five weeks’ worth of poor output at the plate — he started the season on a tear — doesn’t really do anything to change his long-term outlook.
You’re a Dodger fan … do you assume Cody Bellinger is just “average” because he’s in a similar rut to open the season? Not saying it in an accusatory manner, but the same logic you’re applying to Hoskins can easily apply to him. (I think both are future stars, for the record, and that judging either on less than a third of a season’s worth of PAs is largely pointless.)
“The next coming of christ.” You’re actually right lmao. Anytime there’s an article about the Phillies, or Machado/Harper, and the Mets, it’s all Casey.
I can’t find any stats on how Jesus Christ did his first couple of seasons in the mlb
If I recall correctly, I believe there was some debate on his ability to hit a curve ball.
Are you trying to say Jesus Christ can’t hit a curveball?
The man obviously has limitations. Lee Trevino once famously claimed that the guy can’t hit a 1-iron…
You can’t be serious with a Lee Trevino reference.
Haha beat me to it
Yea let’s not forget how the Phillies are gonna spend over a billion dollars total his winter by signing Kershaw, Machado, and Harper.
The dude has had 2/3rds of a season worth of games in his MLB career, it is incredibly early days.
He’s shown legit power, and despite having a down start to the season, still posts a strong .363 OBP. It’s far more encouraging to see a super strong walk rate, than production coming via batted ball luck.
He’s probably something in between last year and this year, but geez, give him a few more games at least. Mike Trout looked like garbage when he got his feet wet.
Hoskins should be playing 1B. He has not looked good in LF and there’s a chance that has carried over to his hitting. Yeah, Carlos Santana has a high(ish) WAR. That’s nice. Not worth $20-mil, never been a $20-mil player and not good enough to push a young player to a position he doesn’t play well. I do believe Hoskins would be hitting better if he were playing 1B.
Left Field doesn’t explain the good to great weeks he has had. His problem is as teams adjust he doesn’t. His high OBP is buoyed by the great weeks.
Here is a break down of 2017 and 2018 in 7 game increments. I did not break down innings at LF and 1b for 2018 because his 1b time is minuscule and only parts of 2 games. He doesn’t adjust, plain and simple.
2017
8/10-8/16 .160/.276/.520…….. 53 inn LF 7 inn 1B
8/17-8/23 .391/.533/.957……. 52 inn LF 9 inn 1B
8/24-8/30 .357/.379/.821……. 41 inn LF 22 inn 1B
8/31-9/7 .273/.448/.500……. 36.1 inn LF 18.1 inn 1B
9/8-9/15 .348/.515/1.130….. 17 inn LF 50 inn 1B (incl a 15 inn gm @1B)
9/16-9/22 .174/.321/.261……. 21 inn LF 41 inn 1B
9/23-10/1 .115/.294/.154……. 17 inn LF 56 inn 1B
2018
3/29-4/7 .435/.533/.739
4/8-4/15 .200/.407/.400
4/16-4/22 .318/.500/.682
4/24-4/30 .250/.379/.292
5/1-5/8 .179/.303/.357
5/9-5/18 .174/.259/.261
5/19-5/26 .148/.233/.296
5/27-5/29 .111/.111/.222 (3 games)
Yea that one was mind boggling.
It’s not enough sample size to determine anything. Tons of legitimate players have gone through similar and probably worse stretches. The balls in his court, he needs to make further adjustments, but to use this small sample as a final determination is ridiculous
You need to lay off the red bulls dude…
Rhys Hoskins is 5 months younger than Bryce Harper.
Five months.
Genuflect on that. It’s well worth your time.
Hoskins also went to a 4 year college. Odds are with his plate discipline he could have been up sooner if he had signed straight out of HS.
While I don’t think it’s instructive to judge any player with as few PAs as Hoskins, I will note, as a Padres fan that San Diego tried to convert Chase Headley, at the Major League level, to left field when he first came up. It was a baffling move, made, ostensibly to keep a mostly talentless slug named Kevin Kouzmanoff at third base. Anyway, Headley was a terrible left fielder and it carried over to his offense.; he only became an average-to-good hitter once he moved back to third, the position he played his entire career including college. So I can buy that a player playing an unfamiliar position he isn’t good at can perhaps lead to some offensive struggles.
Watched a few Philly games the last couple weeks and Hoskins does not look good or comfortable in LF. I’m sure he’s been working hard on his D. Carrying it over to his hitting would not surprise me.
People can be so salty.
Look, obviously the guy was going to take a step back in his progress this year because pitchers were gonna figure him out. And there is no denying that the man had a monster start to his career. I personally believe the man will do just fine, continue to play hard, and be what people think he’ll be – a great power hitting player. Maybe a trip to the DL will help. I know that sounds awful, but it’ll maybe clear his head and help him return to form.
It’s just funny when people are quick to call people busts. Rhys hasn’t even played a full season. People are allowed to go through slumps. I’m not saying it’s ideal, but we’re human. EVERYONE slumps.
I’m just glad Rhys is 5 months younger than Bryce, honestly, even though that argument makes no sense at all. Sorry, Casey. If it’s your partner telling you this, find a new partner.
The guys suffered a scary injury and people are talking about what a bad player he is. I would gladly trade this guy places. It’s got to be a good feeling to wake up in the morning and say hey I’m going to work today at the ballpark.
Plus knowing you’re playing the greatest game in the world
and getting millions of dollars to do it! That’s gotta be like Heaven!
if Dylan Cosens is being called up it will be a big birthday present for him
Imagine if it was Cozens!
A lot of teams with crowded OFs they should look into a small trade. Maybe Granderson from Toronto