Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins hopes to play in Atlanta after bruising his right hand on hit by pitch

MIAMI — After the pitch hit Rhys Hoskins’ right hand Wednesday night, and after Hoskins hit the dirt, one thing crossed his mind.

“My first thought was, ‘Come on. Right now?’” he said.

Hoskins has had wretched luck with late-season injuries the last two years. And the Phillies have been snakebitten this season by hand injuries. Jean Segura and Bryce Harper missed time with broken bones.

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But Hoskins’ X-rays came back negative, and although he was receiving treatment for a bone bruise and not in the lineup Thursday night for the series finale against the Miami Marlins, his absence isn’t expected to last more than a few days.

“That’s the hope, yeah,” Hoskins said of playing either Friday or Saturday night in Atlanta. “We’ll see. Hopefully there’s a good response today. So far, so good. There’s a couple more rounds of treatment. Go from there.”

Hoskins said his hand was “sore, but better than expected when I woke up.” He was injured in the third inning Wednesday night when he took an 88-mph changeup from Marlins starter Edward Cabrera off the fleshy part of his right (top) hand. Initially, he stayed in the game but exited after playing defense in the top of the fourth.

The incident sparked unwelcome flashbacks for Hoskins. In 2020, he injured his right elbow during a September series in Miami, missed the final 17 games, and underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament. He missed the last 55 games last season with an abdominal muscle tear that required surgery.

Surely he must’ve been thinking about all of that after getting hit.

”Was I? Definitely,” he said. “Just the bad luck this season we’ve had, and I’ve had some bad luck here in the past. But thank goodness, we kind of dodged a bullet a little bit and see how it goes after a full day of treatment today.”

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Hoskins has been among the Phillies’ most consistent hitters. After a slow start, he’s batting .268/.360/.510 with 21 home runs since Memorial Day. Overall, he’s hitting .250/.339/.469 with 28 homers, mostly out of the No. 2 spot in the order behind Kyle Schwarber.

Asked if he could envision Hoskins returning Friday night, interim manager Rob Thomson said, “I wouldn’t doubt it.“

“He’s a tough guy,” Thomson said. “For me, any time a guy has a hand injury, I’m very careful. It can affect your swing and that turns into bad swings and a slump, confidence, all that stuff.”

Zack Wheeler is scheduled to face hitters in a live batting practice setting Friday in Atlanta. He will throw 45-50 pitches, according to Thomson.

It’s possible Wheeler may return to the Phillies’ rotation next week.

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Wheeler will miss his fifth consecutive start Sunday with what the Phillies initially deemed forearm tendinitis but updated to elbow inflammation. He allowed a total of 10 runs in 11⅓ innings over his last two starts, both against the New York Mets.

If Wheeler is able to start by next Thursday at home against the Braves, he could squeeze in three regular-season starts and be in line to start either Game 1 or 2 of the best-of-three wild-card series.

Entering Thursday night, first baseman Darick Hall had hit four home runs in his last three games for triple-A Lehigh Valley. Yet the Phillies haven’t recalled him to join their expanded September roster.

What gives?

Thomson explained that the Phillies are prioritizing outfield depth (Dalton Guthrie) because Nick Castellanos remains sidelined by a strained oblique muscle in his right side. Third-string catcher Donny Sands hasn’t gotten an at-bat since Sept. 3, but he’s a right-handed hitter. Hall bats from the left side.

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It’s “probably a stretch,” according to Thomson, that Castellanos will be ready to come off the injured list by Tuesday, when the Phillies open their final homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays. He has taken light swings off a tee and soft-toss pitching, but continues to feel soreness.

Hall, meanwhile, has 35 homers between triple A and the majors. He went deep nine times in 129 at-bats and slugged .550 for the Phillies during the two months that Harper missed with a broken thumb.

Could he rejoin the Phillies once Castellanos returns?

”Possibly,” Thomson said. “It depends on how we structure our roster moving forward.”

In honor of Roberto Clemente Day, pitcher Kyle Gibson wore No. 21. Gibson is the Phillies’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Thomson played with Clemente’s son, Roberto Jr., a Phillies farmhand, in 1985 in Gastonia, N.C., a single-A affiliate shared among several organizations. ... Ranger Suárez (9-5, 3.62 ERA) will start Friday night in Atlanta against Braves lefty Max Fried (13-6, 2.50).