Ranking Hoskins' best moments as a Phillie

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Rhys Hoskins knows baseball, so he knew after Game 7 of the NLCS that it could be his final time in the home clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park as a member of the Phillies.

It turns out, it probably was.

Bryce Harper will be Philadelphia's first baseman next season. Kyle Schwarber will be the designated hitter. Those proclamations from Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski last week at the GM Meetings leave Hoskins without a place to play, likely ending his Phillies career. Perhaps the only way he returns would be if the club made a trade, but Dombrowski said that he considers the team set from a position-player perspective.

If Hoskins’ time is up in Philly, what a tremendous impact he made, both on and off the field.

The Phillies were 42-69 on Aug. 10, 2017, when they promoted him from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He hit seventh that night behind César Hernández, Freddy Galvis, Odúbel Herrera, Maikel Franco, Nick Williams and Tommy Joseph. Hoskins played left field, a position he had played only three times in his professional career. But he delivered the goods. He batted .259 with 18 home runs, 48 RBIs and a 1.014 OPS in 50 games on his way to finishing fourth in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting.

Fans took to him because he represented hope for a franchise that lived at the bottom of the NL East for years. The team looked at him as a leader in the clubhouse. Think about the games the Phillies lost from 2017-21. After each one, Hoskins could be found at his locker, ready to answer questions. He handled difficult times with class and professionalism.

Hoskins hit, too. From his debut in 2017 through the end of '22, he ranked 12th in the Majors in home runs (148) and 16th in RBIs (405). He ranked 38th out of 527 qualified players in OPS (.846), 43rd in slugging percentage (.492) and 53rd in on-base percentage (.353). He put up those numbers in an often difficult place to play.

“Not everybody can handle Philly,” a venerable baseball insider said this spring. “Rhys can.”

Hoskins survived the bad times to see -- and feel -- Red October in 2022. One of my favorite stories from the past year came this spring when I spoke with Rhys and Jayme Hoskins about their 2022 postseason experience -- everything from his iconic bat spike to her buying beers for fans in the stands.

A couple weeks later, everything changed. Hoskins tore his left ACL, which required surgery and ended his season. He made his presence felt at the ballpark anyway. He showed up for games. He and Jayme showed up for the community, like always. They hosted the 2nd annual “Go Yard with Rhys Hoskins” event to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It raised more than $385,000 for MDA.

Hoskins had so many great moments with the Phillies. Here are five that come to mind:

1. The Bat Spike (Oct. 14, 2022)
Fifty years from now, if somebody puts together a video of the Phillies’ all-time postseason moments, Hoskins’ three-run home run in Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS will be on it. Hoskins heard boos during pregame introductions because he had struggled in the team’s first four playoff games. Then, he crushed a home run against Braves ace Spencer Strider. Hoskins raised his arms, spiked his bat and raced around the bases. Everybody went nuts.

“God, it was loud,” he said.

2. Big Fella Sets the Tone (Oct. 23, 2022)
Hoskins hit a two-run homer in the third inning in Game 5 of the NLCS, giving the Phillies the lead. A while later, there was Bedlam at the Bank.

Hoskins was going to the World Series.

“It's everything,” he said. “This organization is the one that believed in me and gave me an opportunity to impact the city of Philadelphia in any way. There's been a lot of people that have had a lot of hands in this going back since I got drafted, but definitely since I got here in 2017. A lot of people that aren't here that put in work, laid the groundwork for the people that are here to succeed, to dream and to win.”

3. Rock On, Rhys (June 9, 2018)
Why a homer against Milwaukee in a forgettable game in 2018? Because it was the first time Hoskins saluted the bullpen as he rounded the bases. It started a Phillies’ home run tradition that has since spread across baseball. The next time you see a Phils player -- or a player on another team salute the bullpen following a homer -- know that Hoskins started it all.

4. Double the Fun (Oct. 22, 2022)
The Padres took a 4-0 lead in the first inning in Game 4 of the NLCS. Only two times in postseason history had a team won after allowing four or more runs in the top of the first. The Phillies became the third. Hoskins hit a two-run homer in the first inning to cut the lead to 4-2. He hit a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth. The Phils rolled from there.

“You can’t write it better for the guys in that room, for the staff, for everybody in this organization,” Hoskins said. “But I think, most importantly, for the city. Yeah, you can’t write it better.”

5. The First Ones (Aug. 14, 2017)
It was on this day that Hoskins hit the first two homers of his career in the same game at Petco Park. It kickstarted a magical rookie season.