Rhys Hoskins

Rhys Hoskins Diagnosed With Torn ACL, Will Undergo Surgery

By Anthony Franco | March 23, 2023 at 11:59pm CDT

The Phillies have lost Rhys Hoskins for almost certainly the entire season. Philadelphia announced Thursday evening the veteran first baseman tore the ACL in his left knee. He’ll undergo surgery at an unspecified date. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will meet with the media to discuss the situation tomorrow morning.

Hoskins was injured during this morning’s Spring Training action against the Tigers. He retreated to field an Austin Meadows chopper that pushed him just into the outfield grass. After the ball kicked off his glove, Hoskins scrambled to retrieve it but immediately went down in pain (video provided on Twitter by Chris Brown of the Woodward Sports Network). The club had to call for a cart to take him off the field. While manager Rob Thomson later indicated that Hoskins was able to walk in the clubhouse, imaging revealed the devastating injury.

It’s a horrible development for team and player alike. Hoskins had been set to occupy his typical middle-of-the-order lineup spot for the defending National League champions. A paragon of offensive consistency, he’s hit between 27 and 34 home runs in all four of his full MLB seasons. Hoskins pairs that power with plus walk totals to more than compensate for slightly higher than average strikeout rates. Even after accounting for Philadelphia’s hitter-friendly home park, he’s been a well above-average offensive player throughout his career.

Hoskins is coming off his typical season. He connected on 30 homers with a .246/.332/.462 line while suiting up in 156 regular season games. While he only hit .159 with a .205 on-base percentage in the playoffs, he popped six homers in 73 postseason PA’s.

That kind of power production would have been of particular import for the Phils early in the 2023 campaign. Bryce Harper is recovering from Tommy John surgery and will open the year on the injured list. While Philadelphia doesn’t have any imminent plans to put the two-time MVP on the 60-day IL, the club has only specified they expect him back around the All-Star Break. They’ll now be down two of their best hitters early in the year and, in Hoskins’ case, likely for the entire season.

The Phils added another star position player this offseason, signing Trea Turner to a $300MM deal. The Phils have a pair of more traditional sluggers in last winter’s signees Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Schwarber is coming off a 46-homer season in his first year with the club. Castellanos, on the other hand, struggled to a .263/.305/.389 line in the initial season of a five-year deal. With Hoskins out, there’s more pressure on Castellanos to return to peak form alongside Turner, Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and eventually Harper in the lineup.

In the immediate future, the Phils will have to sort out how to divvy up first base playing time. The most straightforward decision would be to give the job to 27-year-old Darick Hall. A left-handed power bat, Hall got into his first 42 MLB games last season. He connected on nine longballs and slugged .522 in 142 plate appearances. That’s a promising start but a meager 3.5% walk rate and elevated 31% strikeout percentage contributed to a .282 OBP. Hall had hit .254/.330/.528 with 28 homers, a 9.5% walk percentage and a 22.6% strikeout rate in 101 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Aside from Hall, the Phils could give occasional first base reps to either of Schwarber or Castellanos. Utility players like Josh Harrison or Kody Clemens could take some at-bats but aren’t likely to hit enough to play there regularly. The Phillies could also slide third baseman Alec Bohm across the diamond — particularly if they want the right-handed Bohm to take some reps from Hall against lefty pitching — while plugging Harrison or Edmundo Sosa at the hot corner for defensive purposes. Realmuto also seems likely to pick up a few starts on days when the Phils want to get him some time off from behind the dish.

If Philadelphia were to go outside the organization, Miguel Sanó stands as the top unsigned first baseman. Other players should come available as teams make roster cuts. The Brewers may wind up having to decide between minor league signee Luke Voit and the out-of-options Keston Hiura. The Marlins could soon have to decide whether to keep non-roster invitee Yuli Gurriel or allow him to retest the market. Phillies brass figures to provide insight into the plans over the coming days.

In addition to the difficulty of losing an entire season on a championship contender, it’s hard to draw up a worse time for an injury of this nature for Hoskins personally. The 30-year-old will be a free agent for the first time next offseason. One of the top bats in what looks to be a shallow free agent position player class, he looked like an obvious choice to reject a qualifying offer and sign a lucrative multi-year deal. Instead, he might have to take a pillow contract to reestablish himself before testing the market again over the 2024-25 offseason. Josh Bell and Trey Mancini, who can each opt out of the deals they signed this winter, now look like the top impending free agents at first base.

Rhys Hoskins Carted Off Field Following Knee Injury

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2023 at 1:55pm CDT

1:55pm: Manager Rob Thomson said on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast that Hoskins was eventually able to walk under his own power in the clubhouse (Twitter link via Matt Gelb of The Athletic). That doesn’t rule out a significant injury, but it’s at least cause for some cautious optimism. The Phillies are still doing initial waves of testing and don’t yet have a formal diagnosis.

12:55pm: The Phillies confirmed that Hoskins has suffered a left knee injury. They’ll provide further updates after Hoskins undergoes testing.

12:35pm: Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins was carted off the field just minutes ago following what looked to be a significant, non-contact knee injury during today’s Grapefruit League game against the Tigers (video link via FOX’s Ben Verlander). Hoskins was backtracking a short-hop grounder off the bat of Austin Meadows when he collapsed in obvious pain. He was tended to by the team’s training staff and EMTs before being helped off the field.

It’s a potentially brutal injury for a Phillies club that’ll already be without Bryce Harper for a significant portion of the 2023 season as the 2021 NL MVP recovers from Tommy John surgery. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that Harper won’t be placed on the 60-day IL for now, leaving open the possibility that he could return before May 29 this year. (Of course, the Phillies can retroactively transfer Harper to the 60-day IL any time they need a roster spot without further delaying his potential return.)

That’s two of the Phillies’ top power threats possibly sidelined for notable periods of the season. Hoskins put together the second 30-homer season of his career in 2022, batting .246/.332/.462 while chipping in 33 doubles and a pair of triples as well. He hit just .159 with a .205 on-base percentage during 69 postseason plate appearances, but the majority of the slugger’s hits were max-impact blows; he belted six home runs during postseason play, including a four-homer NLCS. Hoskins’ three-run blast and subsequent bat spike against Spencer Strider in the National League Division Series is one of the lasting images from Philadelphia’s remarkable postseason run in 2022.

If Hoskins is out for an extended period of time, the Phillies will likely turn first base over to 27-year-old Darick Hall, who made his big league debut in 2022 and hit .250/.282/.522 with nine homers in just 142 plate appearances. Hall has a productive minor league track record but is generally seen as a platoon player and displayed worrying strikeout (31.5%) and walk (3.5%) rates during last year’s debut. Speculatively, the Phils could give right-handed-hitting third baseman Alec Bohm reps at first base when facing lefty starters, with Edmundo Sosa or Josh Harrison sliding in at third base on those days.

From a personal vantage point, Hoskins’ injury comes at one of the worst possible times. He’s sitting on five-plus years of Major League service time and is slated to become a free agent for the first time in his career following the 2023 season. He’s the youngest and arguably best first baseman on next year’s market (depending on Josh Bell’s opt-out status). It’s a generally light market for position players next offseason, and Hoskins stands as one of the top power bats available.

Phillies, Rhys Hoskins Have Not Had Extension Talks

By Nick Deeds | February 28, 2023 at 8:24pm CDT

Following the Phillies postseason run in 2022 which shocked the baseball world as they fell just two wins short of a World Series championship, the expectations surrounding the team have changed dramatically. Philadelphia followed up on its surprise run with a busy offseason, landing Trea Turner on an 11-year deal while bolstering the pitching staff with multiyear deals for Taijuan Walker and Matt Strahm. The club also bolstered its bench and bullpen with one-year deals and trades, adding Josh Harrison and Kody Clemens to the club’s bench options while adding Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto to the late-inning mix.

In addition to external additions, the club has been active in extending both players and personnel. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski, GM Sam Fuld, and relievers Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado have all been extended since the postseason concluded. The club has reportedly exchanged offers with ace right-hander Aaron Nola as well, indicating a desire from every corner of the Phillies organization to keep this group together for the foreseeable future. Despite this apparent desire, however, Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb report at The Athletic that longtime Phillie Rhys Hoskins may not be part of those plans, as the club and Hoskins have yet to begin extension talks.

Hoskins, 30 next month, is set to become a free agent following the 2023 season. The slugger came up through the minor leagues as a first baseman, but spent the early part of his major league career primarily playing left field in deference to Carlos Santana before returning to the cold corner following a trade that sent Santana to Seattle. Wherever he’s played the field throughout his career, however, Hoskins has always hit: in six seasons a big leaguer, Hoskins has never finished a campaign with a wRC+ below his 2019 figure of 112, or 12% better than league average.

For his career, Hoskins is a 125 wRC+ hitter with a slash line of .242/.353/.492 and 304 extra base hits in 667 games. While Hoskins strikes out at an elevated clip (25.1% in 2022), he more than makes up for that deficiency with his proclivity for drawing free passes. Hoskins boasts a 13.5% career walk rate and even as his walk rate has ticked downward in recent years, his 10.7% rate in 2022 still ranked in the 80th percentile of all qualified hitters, per Statcast.

As Rosenthal and Gelb note, the market for first basemen this past offseason would indicate that Hoskins could aim for a deal in the $20MM AAV range on the open market. That’s above what Josh Bell received from the Guardians but right in line with what Anthony Rizzo and Jose Abreu received from the Yankees and Astros, respectively. Bell is younger than Hoskins but lacks his track record of consistency and opted for a short term deal that would allow him to return to the open market following the 2023 season. Rizzo and Abreu, meanwhile, have stronger overall resumes to this point in their careers, but are several years older than Hoskins, meaning their current contracts are set to take them into their mid-to-late thirties.

While an AAV in the range of $20MM might be a reasonable estimate for Hoskins on the open market, it’s understandable why the Phillies may be hesitant to make such a commitment. After all, the club already features Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos as defensively-limited sluggers on high dollar contracts, and it’s possible that Bryce Harper, whose work in the outfield defensive metrics had largely soured on in recent years even before his Tommy John surgery last November, could be viewed similarly as he enters his thirties. With each of those sluggers locked up through at least 2025, it would hardly be a surprise if Dombrowski’s front office decided that the resources required to retain Hoskins would be better utilized elsewhere, such as in extending Nola.

Should Hoskins hit the market, he seems poised to be among the best bats of a 2023-24 free agent class that lacks much position playing star power outside of two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. Fellow corner slugger Teoscar Hernandez and Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman are among the other players headed towards the open market. That being said, barring a significant downturn in performance from Hoskins in 2023, he seems like a prime candidate to be tendered a Qualifying Offer by the Phillies in order to recoup some value should he sign elsewhere. As a team paying into the luxury tax, the Phillies would receive a 2024 draft pick after the fourth round as compensation for any qualified free agent who signs elsewhere in the coming offseason.

NL East Notes: Hoskins, Rosario, Mauricio, Vientos

By Mark Polishuk | February 26, 2023 at 5:38pm CDT

Rhys Hoskins underwent a meniscectomy on his right knee in December, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters. The relatively minor procedure corrected some “wear and tear,” Thomson said, and Hoskins is expected to make his in-game spring debut sometime this week.

Now entering his age-30 season, Hoskins has been a quality hitter pretty much from day one in Philadelphia, hitting .242/.353/.492 with 148 home runs and producing a 125 wRC+ over 2877 career plate appearances in six MLB seasons. Hoskins would naturally love to keep that production going in order to help the Phillies’ chances at returning to the World Series, but a big 2023 campaign would also help Hoskins as he enters free agency next winter. The Phils already have a lot of long-term money on the books and might soon add another pricey deal if they reach an extension with Aaron Nola (another pending free agent), but it stands to reason that the club would also have some interest in locking Hoskins up to an extension. That said, Boras Corporation clients like Hoskins usually end up testing the open market, and the Phillies might have some reservations about committing a long-term deal to a first base-only player.

Phillies Notes: Harper, Outfield, Nola

By Darragh McDonald | January 19, 2023 at 5:31pm CDT

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently made an appearance on Philadelphia radio station WIP-FM, with Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relaying some of his comments on Twitter.

One key storyline for the Phillies this year will revolve around Bryce Harper. The star outfielder was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May of last year, which prevented him from throwing but allowed him to serve as the designated hitter. His continued presence in the lineup helped the club earn a Wild Card berth and eventually make it all the way to the World Series. After that, he did finally undergo Tommy John surgery in November, with the club announcing at that time they expected him to be out until the around the All-Star break.

Everything with that plan still seems to be in order, with Dombrowski saying that Harper’s rehab has gone well up to this point. Harper is expected to start swinging a bat around the end of March and could be back in the lineup around the time of the All-Star festivities, as initially projected.

One fallout of that Harper situation is that the Phils will have an open designated hitter slot for the first half but Harper will take it over once he’s able. The club could theoretically look outside the organization to find another bat to fill the void, but they apparently feel good enough about their internal candidates that Dombrowski doesn’t anticipate a “big acquisition”. He listed Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto as candidates to take over some time in that slot.

Bohm and Hoskins are set to man the corners in Philly just as they’ve done in previous seasons. However, neither is considered an especially strong defender. Bohm has logged 2,280 2/3 innings at third base in his career but has accumulated -36 Defensive Runs Saved, -11 Outs Above Average and a -2.8 score from Ultimate Zone Rating. Hoskins, meanwhile, has 4,195 innings at first base with -7 DRS, -12 OAA, though a positive 5.4 score from UZR. Backup infielders Kody Clemens, Edmundo Sosa and Dalton Guthrie could get some extra time in the field while Bohm and Hoskins get some DH at-bats. Clemens has played both corners and second base in the majors thus far while Sosa has played the three positions to the left of first base and Guthrie has played second and third. Realmuto is considered an excellent defender but catchers can’t crouch behind the plate every day. Since he’s also a great hitter, it makes sense to use the DH spot to get him into the lineup more frequently.

In the outfield, the everyday regulars figure to be Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh. Neither Castellanos or Schwarber are considered great defenders on the grass, which would make them DH candidates as well. Even if that does end up coming to pass, Dombrowski feels good about the depth they have, mentioning Guthrie and Jake Cave. Given they feel good about their depth options, Dombrowski says they’re “basically set” while adding that further depth could always be added via a minor league deal.

Looking to the future, the Phillies have a great unknown in their rotation since Aaron Nola is now in the final year of his contract. “It’s something we’d like to do,” Dombrowski said about a Nola extension. “We want Aaron to be in the organization for a long time, no question. We love him. We love his abilities. I know he likes it in Philadelphia. So that’s something that will be in our mind… It’s never easy to be able to get done but we’d love to keep Aaron in the organization for a long time.”

Nola, 30 in June, is about to begin his ninth MLB season and so far has a 3.60 ERA through 1,288 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 27.5% of batters faced while walking 6.5% of them, and he’s kept the ball on the ground at a 47.9% clip. Since his 2015 debut, his 29.9 fWAR is the sixth-most of any pitcher in the league. It’s no surprise then that the club would like to keep him around, since he’s one of the few true aces in the league. Of course, that excellent work also means he won’t be cheap. Some recent free agent deals for excellent starting pitchers have gone well into nine-figure territory, with Jacob deGrom recently getting $185MM and Carlos Rodón $162MM. It doesn’t sound like anything is particularly close between Nola and the Phillies, but if they truly want him back for next year and beyond, it will surely require adding another hefty contract to their books.

Phillies, Rhys Hoskins Avoid Arbitration

By Darragh McDonald | January 13, 2023 at 12:26pm CDT

The Phillies and first baseman Rhys Hoskins have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $12MM contract for 2023, reports Robert Murray of FanSided.

Hoskins, 30 in March, has spent his entire career with the Phillies so far, having been drafted by them in 2014. He is now on the cusp of free agency, however, as this is his final season of club control. During 2023, he will cross six years of service time and qualify for the open market at season’s end.

Since his debut in 2017, he’s established himself as a reliably above-average hitter. He’s hit at least 27 home runs in each season, outside of 10 in the shortened 2020 campaign and 18 in his 50-game debut in 2017. Apart from that debut, his wRC+ has been between 112 and 139 in each season. He has 148 career homers and a batting line of .242/.353/.492 for a wRC+ of 125. He isn’t considered to be an especially strong defender or baserunner, which was kept his wins above replacement from ever topping 2.4, per FanGraphs, but he’s also never been below 2.0 in a full campaign thanks to his reliable offense.

That potent bat pushed his salary up to $4.8MM in 2021, his first time qualifying for arbitration. He got to $7.7MM last year and now $12MM this year, just below the $12.6MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. The Phillies finally cracked the postseason last year, breaking a decade-long drought and going all the way to the World Series. They have been aggressive in reloading to try to get back there in 2023, with Hoskins likely to be a key part of that in his final season before he’s set to reach the open market. He and the club could always reach an extension that keeps him in Philly beyond the upcoming campaign, but they also have other first base/designated hitter types, such as Darick Hall, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.

Phillies Notes: Harper, Bohm

By TC Zencka | April 23, 2022 at 2:02pm CDT

An MRI on Bryce Harper’s injured right elbow came back clean, but it will still be a few days before he can take the field again, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. In fact, if it weren’t for the designated hitter now being a part of the National League, Harper would have been placed on the injured list, Gelb notes. He will stay on the roster and in the lineup as the designateted hitter.

With Harper at least temporarily entrenched as the DH, the Phillies’ defense will take a hit with Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in the outfield corners and Rhys Hoskins at first base. All three players would probably DH in a best-case scenario.

Harper’s injury, though hopefully short-term, highlights a larger roster issue for the Phillies. The outfield trio of Harper, Schwarber, and Castellanos aren’t going anywhere, but the Phillies could look to shake up the roster down the line by moving Hoskins or Alec Bohm. The younger Bohm has struggled defensively at the hot corner, and they could move him to first if they decide to move on from Hoskins, who has one more season of arbitration before free agency.

The club has also considered trading Bohm, however, notes The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. In just 12 games this season, Bohm’s value has already experienced wild swings in both directions. A three-error game at third saw him pushed to the bench for a few games, but in the last couple of days, Bohm’s bat has taken off. Such variance for a young player like Bohm is exactly why finding a trade partner is such a difficult task.

Phillies Select Cam Bedrosian, Ramon Rosso

By Anthony Franco | September 1, 2021 at 4:26pm CDT

The Phillies announced they’ve selected the contracts of relievers Cam Bedrosian and Ramón Rosso. They will take the two additional active roster spots available to teams as part of September expansion. To create space on the 40-man roster, first baseman Rhys Hoskins has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list and shortstop Didi Gregorius has been placed on the restricted list.

Bedrosian is back in the majors with his third club of the season. He began the year with the Reds but struggled mightily, leading to his release. He performed far better upon making it back to the majors with the A’s but was squeezed off the roster nonetheless. Between the two teams, Bedrosian has a 5.52 ERA over 14 2/3 innings with disappointing strikeout and walk rates (21.1% and 14.1%, respectively).

That said, Bedrosian was one of the game’s more reliable relievers for much of his time with the Angels before this season. And he’s pitched quite well since latching on with Philadelphia via minor league deal in June. Over twenty innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Bedrosian has a 2.25 ERA with league average strikeout and walk rates. That’ll earn him another look at the big league level — ironically with the same club with which Bedrosian’s father Steve won the 1987 NL Cy Young award.

Rosso is back after being passed through outright waivers in May. The 25-year-old has worked eleven big league innings over the past couple seasons. He’s spent much of the year with Lehigh Valley, pitching to a 4.50 ERA with underwhelming strikeout and walk numbers over 28 innings.

Hoskins’ IL transfer is entirely procedural. He is out for the season after it was revealed he’d require abdominal surgery last week. Gregorius, meanwhile, is in his native Curacao due to the birth of his child. He has been on the paternity list for the past three days but will apparently need more time away from the club.

Additionally, the Phils announced that reliever Seranthony Domínguez has been reinstated from the 60-day IL and optioned to Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia’s on-time closer, Dominguez hasn’t pitched since 2019 on account of Tommy John surgery. He began a minor league rehab assignment in early August and his 30-day allotted window was closing. Domínguez’s control hasn’t been there during his rehab looks, though, so he’ll get some more minor league time to try to iron things out. The right-hander has a 3.27 ERA over 82 2/3 big league innings.

Rhys Hoskins Done For The Season

By TC Zencka | August 26, 2021 at 4:31pm CDT

Rhys Hoskins was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier today. Unfortunately, the news has only gotten more dire since then. Speaking to reporters, Hoskins said that he will not play again this season, per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). He will undergo surgery to repair a tear in his lower abdomen, adds MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter).

Interestingly, the earlier designation for his IL placement was for a groin injury. The abdomen issue was a preexisting injury that Hoskins has been dealing with for some time now. The two injuries in tandem, however, seemed to push the point for Hoskins, leading to the decision to have the surgery now. It’s an unequivocal bummer for Hoskins, who had put together a bounce-back season after a difficult 2020.

Big picture, this is a crushing revelation for the Phillies. They have very little margin for error as they strive to make the postseason for the first time in the Bryce Harper era. It’s been a tough month of August for the Phillies, who were leapfrogged by the Braves for first place in the NL East. Girardi’s club now sits 5.0 games out of first and 5.5 games out of a wild card spot.

All this comes amidst a front office shakeup and the demotion of Alec Bohm, their top prospect and starting third baseman for much of the year. Add in the yo-yo treatment of Spencer Howard’s development before he was dealt to Texas, as well as their wild swings in the standings since the trade deadline, and it all adds up to a rather disjointed situation in Philly, at least in terms of the optics.

Remember, they were 3.5 games behind the Mets at the trade deadline only to go on an 8-game win streak to begin August. They swiftly overtook the Mets for the division lead on August 6th. Their time at the top was short-lived, as they’ve gone just 6-10 in the games since, losing the top spot to surging Atlanta. Less than two weeks after they lost the division lead to the Braves, they sit just barely on the fringes of contention with a 17.6% chance of making the playoffs, per baseball-reference.

Losing Hoskins now adds insult to injury, especially because they’re roster is so thin after the superstars at the top. Hoskins’ 129 wRC+ and 2.4 fWAR were a key piece of scaffolding to the Harper-J.T. Realmuto core. Swapping in Brad Miller’s 93 wRC+ simply doesn’t make up enough ground for a team looking to make up ground. Miller’s going to be the guy, however, because there’s not much else in the organization by way of reinforcements — not unless Bohm can very quickly figure things out in Triple-A.

Phillies Place Rhys Hoskins On Injured List, Designate Chase Anderson

By Anthony Franco | August 26, 2021 at 3:54pm CDT

3:54 PM: Well, it was a short-lived return for Eflin. The Phillies’ right-hander was scratched from his start tonight because of continued knee discomfort, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Philly (via Twitter). Manager Joe Girardi made the announcement not long after Eflin was activated from the injured list. Matt Moore will get the start tonight, and Eflin will presumably be further evaluated.

2:34 PM: The Phillies announced a series of roster moves this afternoon. Starting pitcher Zach Eflin has been activated from the 10-day injured list to start this evening’s game against the Diamondbacks. Also coming back from the 10-day IL is reliever José Alvarado. In corresponding moves, Philadelphia placed first baseman Rhys Hoskins back on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain and designated right-hander Chase Anderson for assignment.

Eflin has missed around five weeks due to patellar tendinitis in his right knee. That halted a typically-strong campaign for the right-hander, who has a 4.17 ERA over 105 2/3 innings. Eflin doesn’t rack up huge strikeout or ground-ball totals, but he’s one of the sport’s best strike-throwers and a consistent mid-rotation presence. Eflin has posted an ERA between 3.97 and 4.36 in each of the past four seasons.

While the Phils will be thrilled to welcome Eflin back, they’re again losing Hoskins to the IL. The veteran first baseman just returned to the lineup over the weekend after missing two weeks on account of the same left groin strain. Three games later, he winds up back on the shelf. It’s an inopportune time for the Phils to lose one of their best hitters, as they enter play tonight five games back of the Braves in the National League East.

The roster shuffling almost certainly ends Anderson’s time in Philadelphia. The veteran signed a one-year, $4MM guarantee over the offseason with the hope he’d bounce back from a 2020 campaign derailed by home runs. He’s had a rough go of things for the second straight year, though, pitching to a 6.75 ERA over 48 innings between the rotation and long relief. While Anderson’s strikeout rate spiked to a career-best 24.7% last season, it has fallen to a subpar 16.3% mark this year. Anderson’s also walking batters at a career-worst 9.3% clip and he’s continued to struggle keeping the ball in the yard.

Given his lackluster 2021 results, Anderson’s a lock to pass through waivers unclaimed. He has enough service time to become a free agent while collecting the balance of his guaranteed salary. At that point, Anderson should attract interest from other clubs based on his extended pre-2020 body of work as a solid back-of-the-rotation starter.

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