Rhys Hoskins’ top 10 Phillies moments reveal a legacy as a survivor of the team’s rebuilding process

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Nov. 24 and has been updated with the news that Hoskins agreed to a contract with the Brewers on Tuesday.

Rhys Hoskins’ 10-year tenure in the Phillies organization ended not with a ride down Broad Street — or even into the sunset — but rather a brief conversation over the phone.

Soon after the season ended, following a conversation with Bryce Harper about playing first base next year and beyond, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski called Hoskins to break the news. There wouldn’t be a place on the roster for Hoskins, a free agent after missing the season while recovering from a torn ACL in spring training.

“You never want to 100% close any doors,” Dombrowski said, “but when you look at the situation, he understood.”

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Hoskins found a new home on Tuesday when he agreed to a two-year, $34 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, according to a source.

Although it wasn’t a storybook farewell, Hoskins’ Phillies legacy is intact. A fifth-round draft pick in 2014, he was more than the homegrown survivor of a rebuilding project that began in 2015. If not for his power-packed debut in the final six weeks of the 2017 season, the process might have dragged on for much longer.

Hoskins burst onto the scene with 18 home runs in his first 212 plate appearances. He averaged 30 dingers per year in four full seasons and finished with 148 in six seasons overall.

Oh, and his bat spike in Game 3 of the 2022 NL Division Series became an instantly iconic Philadelphia sports moment.

There were others. Here, then, is a recap of 10 of Hoskins’ top Phillies highlights:

If not for Harper’s pennant-clinching dramatics, Hoskins might have been crowned MVP of the 2022 NL Championship Series.

He smashed four homers in the five-game vanquishing of the Padres, including two in a pivotal Game 4 victory at home. The Phillies trailed 4-0 and 6-4, but Hoskins led the comeback with a two-run shot in the first inning and a game-tying two-run clout in the fifth.

“We believe in him,” Harper said. “Two huge ABs for us. We needed that.”

When the Phillies blew through Williamsport for the 2018 Little League Classic, Hoskins met dozens of kids, including Alfred Delia, the 12-year-old from Middletown, N.J., who went viral for calling himself “Big Al” in a pregame television introduction and declaring, “I hit dingers.”

Hoskins didn’t miss a chance to share a fist bump with a fellow slugger.

“We walked by each other, and obviously I noticed him,” Hoskins said. “His little video went viral pretty quick. The guy’s a character. We share a common love — hitting dingers. It was cool.”

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Hoskins made a smashing arrival in the majors in 2017. But his first appearance on the national stage came a year later at the Home Run Derby on All-Star week at Nationals Park.

In the first round, Hoskins hit 17 homers to upset the Brewers’ Jesús Aguilar. He appeared poised to advance to the final, but the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber belted five homers in 30 seconds, including a third-decker on his last swing, to eke out a one-homer victory. Schwarber lost in the final to Harper in a convergence of future Phillies.

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“Up until that time in my career, it was maybe the most fun I had on a baseball field,” Hoskins said. “Just a phenomenal atmosphere. It was maybe also the most nervous I’d ever been. I remember having two goals: Just hit more than zero and not swing and miss.”

After the franchise-changing “stupid money” offseason in which they traded for J.T. Realmuto and signed Harper, the Phillies opened 2019 amid higher expectations than in any season since at least 2012. Leave it to Hoskins, though, to strike the biggest blow on opening day, a seventh-inning grand slam (after Harper was walked intentionally) to lead a 10-4 victory over the Braves at sold-out Citizens Bank Park.

“You walk Bryce, you get to one of the best hitters in baseball, one of the best RBI men in baseball,” then-manager Gabe Kapler said. “And he comes through in a big way.”

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Jacob Rhame made all of 44 appearances in the majors. But the little-known former Mets reliever got Hoskins’ attention on April 23, 2019, by buzzing two pitches near his noggin. Hoskins objected, and the benches cleared.

One night later, Hoskins smashed a two-run homer off Rhame and dawdled around the bases in 32.23 seconds, slower than even former Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon’s 30.5-second lap in 2016.

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“I enjoyed the moment,” said Hoskins, who also cemented his status as a team leader by standing up to the Mets.

Rather than fleeing Philadelphia for the more inviting offseason climate of his native northern California, Hoskins spent several winters here. He and his wife, Jayme, became part of the community.

Among their passions: volunteering for the Muscular Dystrophy Association by hosting an annual event at Yards Brewing Company. This year, they raised more than $385,000.

“Rhys and Jayme have made an incredible difference for people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related neuromuscular diseases in the Delaware Valley,” said Amanda Sweet, account director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. “The Hoskins’ support has not only raised valuable funds but raised awareness and hope for local families living with muscle disease.”

When Hoskins met with team officials in late September about going to Florida to face live pitching and prepare for a potential comeback in the World Series, Dombrowski proposed an idea: Before Hoskins left, he could throw the ceremonial first pitch at Game 1 of the wild-card series.

It turned out to be his Phillies walk-off.

“A cool moment, for sure,” Hoskins said after saluting the fans with a wave of his cap and pointing to the ‘P’ over his heart on his red pullover. “I was just taking in the crowd. It’s an unbelievable place, and it takes it up a notch in October. I was just trying to take in as much of that as I can.”

Hoskins went 1-for-13 with four strikeouts in his first four games in the majors. But he remained in the cleanup spot on Aug. 14, 2017, in San Diego, and belted his first two homers — a leadoff shot to left field in the fourth inning against Padres lefty Travis Wood and a solo dinger in the seventh against righty reliever Craig Stammen.

The Padres helped retrieve both home-run balls for Hoskins, who had about 40 family and friends at the game.

“It’s something I’ll have for the rest of my life,” he said.

Never mind that Hoskins didn’t make his major league debut until the Phillies’ 112th game in 2017. He still placed fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, a testament to his impact in a six-week span.

With 18 homers, Hoskins surpassed Ted Williams’ mark for the most by a player who made his season debut after Aug. 1. He went deep in five consecutive games, tying a club record, and became the fastest player to 18 career homers (34 games).

And Hoskins’ emergence prompted the Phillies to jump back into the bidding for big-name free agents with the signings of Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta in the 2017-18 offseason.

What, you were expecting something else?

After opening the 2022 playoffs in a 1-for-18 skid and with a misplay at first base that led to a loss in Atlanta, Hoskins got booed before his first postseason game at Citizens Bank Park. But he banged a three-run homer in the third inning against Braves ace Spencer Strider, then raised his arms, shouted to the dugout, and slammed his bat to the ground, a spike that would make Jalen Hurts blush.

“I didn’t know what I did until a couple innings later, really,” Hoskins said. “It’s just something that came out, just raw. But God, it was fun.”