Don Mattingly said the only way to stop Rhys Hoskins is to put fielders in the stands
Ryan Howard hit 22 HR in 88 games when he won NL ROY in 2005.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 14, 2017
Rhys Hoskins now has 17 HR in 33 games.
So, how does one stop such a menacing, dinger-crushing machine? The question was put to Marlins manager Don Mattingly postgame, who, well, this is what he said:
Don Mattingly when asked if he expects defenses to shift against Rhys Hoskins: "We can't put guys in the seats, can we now?"
— Ben Harris (@byBenHarris) September 14, 2017
Not totally legal, but an interesting idea. We'd love to see it tested out. Miami starter Dan Straily, whom Hoskins is 6-for-8 with three homers against, seemed just as perplexed when talking to MLB.com's Ben Harris postgame.
"That guy is racing to the bat rack when I come up," Straily said. "He just is. That was his third home run off me, I want to say I've gotten him out one time. I've tried everything and it's just not working and I will continue to search for that hole between our matchup because it's not going to go away as long as we're in there facing each other. I'm going to have to do a little more homework on him."
Good luck, MLB pitchers.