Is farmhand Hoskins future Phillies first baseman?
Rhys Hoskins asked the Phillies after last season if they would be able to find a team for him to play for in the offseason. There are winter leagues throughout Latin America where U.S. baseball players go to stay busy between seasons.
Rhys Hoskins asked the Phillies after last season if they would be able to find a team for him to play for in the offseason. There are winter leagues throughout Latin America where U.S. baseball players go to stay busy between seasons.
Hoskins wanted to keep his rhythm after a scorching season with two of the Phillies' single-A affiliates. The first baseman told the Phillies that he was willing to go anywhere. And they took him up on it. Hoskins was sent to Sydney, Australia, a world away from Lakewood, N.J., and Clearwater, Fla.
The experience was awesome, Hoskins said. He batted .323 with eight homers and a .561 slugging percentage in 42 games with the Sydney Blue Sox. The team played just four times a week, which Hoskins said afforded him the chance to still enjoy an offseason while continuing to play. He marveled at the sights of Sydney and traveled to New Zealand, which he called the most beautiful country he has ever seen.
"I saw things that I thought I would never get to see in my lifetime," the native Californian said. "I got to travel the world. Not many people at 22 get to do that, spend three months in a foreign country and get paid to do it and play some baseball. I definitely took advantage of being on the other side of the world."
Hoskins' time in Australia followed a breakout season. The righthanded batter hit 17 homers with 90 RBIs in 135 games between low-A Lakewood and high-A Clearwater. A leg kick, which he added before the season, made him comfortable at the plate.
Hoskins said his swing was stagnant and lacked rhythm after his first professional season. The Phillies' director of player development, Joe Jordan, and hitting coordinator Andy Tracy instructed him to add a leg kick. Hoskins experimented with it before finding the proper height to raise his foot as he swung. Raising his foot just a few inches off the ground proved to be a pivotal adjustment. He was no longer late on pitches. And the results showed.
The Phillies drafted Hoskins out of Sacramento State in the fifth round in 2014. He will start the season at double-A Reading. Another season of similar success could move Hoskins onto a fast path to the majors. The Phillies seem to lack a long-term first baseman at the major-league level.
Brock Stassi had a strong spring training and could reach the majors this season. Andrew Knapp is still a catcher at triple A but could eventually be moved to first base. The Phillies used last June's fourth-round pick on Kyle Martin, a college first baseman. It is a position of much intrigue. None of that is lost on Hoskins. It is hard to not pay attention to what's going on, he said.
"But that's something that's out of my control," Hoskins said. "I just have to focus on what I have to do and basically make them force their hand as best as I can."
Hoskins arrived in Reading last week and tweeted out a picture of the ballpark. "Home for the summer," he wrote. Last year's globe-spanning season has given him confidence, Hoskins said. And he will try to keep his rhythm in "Baseball Town," a world away from Sydney, Australia.
@matt_breen www.philly.com/
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