Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins focusing for now on ‘small wins’ during rehab with a big goal in mind

Doctors told Hoskins he won’t be able to play again for seven to nine months. He intends to prove them wrong.

Rhys Hoskins takes the field on crutches to receive his ring during the Phillies game against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

Published April 10, 2023, 6:58 p.m. ET

Over the last two weeks, Rhys Hoskins has asked so many questions. Some (“How long is the typical recovery from the knee surgery that almost certainly will end his season before it began?”) are more straightforward than others (“Will he play for the Phillies ever again?”).

None of the answers come easily or provide much consolation.

But as the Phillies neared the end of their season-opening road trip last week, Hoskins had a practical question: Would he feel up to going to Citizens Bank Park for the raising of the pennant and the presentation of the National League championship rings?

Hoskins’ teammates, the ones who often refer to him as the Phillies’ “captain,” never had a doubt. The slugging first baseman couldn’t have stayed away if he tried.

Hoskins’ presence provided the most poignant moment of both ceremonies. At the home opener Friday, he stood out beyond the center-field wall and leaned on a crutch with his left arm while tugging with his right to help Bryce Harper hoist the pennant. Two days later, he pulled on his jersey again and was the last player to receive his ring from owner John Middleton.

“Not only just being able to be here but to be a part of it was something that I’ll cherish really for the rest of my life,” Hoskins said Monday in his first public comments since he fell to the turf March 23 in Clearwater, Fla., after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. “Those pennants stay up there forever.”

The standing ovations will probably ring in Hoskins’ ears for nearly as long. Perhaps they will even help him through an arduous rehabilitation that begins with six weeks on crutches and his leg encased in a brace. Or maybe they will help ease the uncertainty that comes with being a free agent after a lost season.

Hoskins, who turned 30 last month, is a homegrown star who came up in the midst of a 96-loss 2017 season and became the face of a rebuilding project. He was here through the Gabe Kapler era; the Joe Girardi era, too. He came back from elbow surgery in 2020 and abdominal surgery in 2021. And while he often frustrated fans with his streakiness at the plate, he also delivered a signature moment in last year’s playoff run by spiking his bat after homering against the Braves in Game 3 of the divisional round.

He’s also one of seven players with four seasons of at least 25 home runs and a 110 adjusted OPS since 2018, joining Aaron Judge, Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Matt Olson, and Kyle Schwarber. With another big season, Hoskins was looking at a multiyear deal worth in excess of $20 million per season.

Now? Who knows?

“Of course I’ve thought about it, and of course, I’m disappointed,” said Hoskins, who will make $12 million this year through salary arbitration. “But right now, it’s just about the small wins that I’m going to have to focus on throughout this year. So much has to happen before I think any things that have to do with what my future or a professional contract may or may not look like.”

The first significant milepost won’t come for about three months, when Hoskins hopes to have regained the strength in his left knee and muscle in his quadriceps to begin jogging.

Doctors told Hoskins he won’t be able to play again for seven to nine months. Hoskins intends to prove them wrong. After all, he noted that teammate Kyle Schwarber tore the ACL in his left knee on April 7, 2016, and was the Cubs’ designated hitter six months and 18 days later in Game 1 of the World Series.

“I’m going to hold on to that,” Hoskins said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to give myself the opportunity that, if and when we are playing in late October, I have a chance to contribute to that.”

If it sounds like Hoskins is coping well with the crushing disappointment of a season-ending injury — in a contract year, no less — well, he would assure you that it hasn’t been easy.

Unfailingly candid as ever, he described a “mourning period” of several days in which he felt a mixture of self-pity and frustration, struggling to understand how his knee gave out as he backpedaled to field a chopper behind first base.

“It’s just a simple step that I’ve done a million times [and] I’ll do a million times after this,” Hoskins said. “It’s frustrating in that part. I often find myself asking ‘Why,’ right? Trying to figure out the answer. Sometimes there isn’t, and that’s just kind of how it goes.”

Hoskins said it has helped to receive support from Phillies fans especially on social media. After he was injured, fans began making $17 donations, in recognition of Hoskins’ uniform number, to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a cause that he has championed over the years.

“It’s been overwhelming really in an amazing way,” Hoskins said. “I saw all the messages and really was just touched. It just goes back, I think, to what’s at the core of the city and that’s love.”

Hoskins intends to spend as much time around the Phillies as he can. He’s willing to be a cheerleader in the dugout, or to offer first base advice for Alec Bohm, who is moving across the infield from his natural third base because Hoskins’ initial replacement, Darick Hall, is headed this week for surgery to reattach a torn ligament in his thumb.

“I’ll pour myself into this team just like I always have,” Hoskins said, “and try to find a way to make a positive impact.”

There isn’t much doubt about that, either.