Phillies First Baseman Tommy Joseph Leaves Dominican Winter League

Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph lasted just five games into the Dominican League before heading home due to a wrist injury.

The Phillies hoped Tommy Joseph would get in some extra at-bats this winter by heading to the Dominican Winter League. However, he didn’t get too far into the season before being forced to head home.

Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Joseph suffered a wrist injury while playing in the Dominican. He has since returned home to be examined. CBS Sports said Joseph won’t return to action after the examination.

Despite the injury sounding somewhat severe, general manager Matt Klentak assured that Joseph will be fine. He told Gelb the injury has “no long-term implications.”

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Joseph was struggling through his first five games with the Leones del Escogido in the DWL. In 20 at-bats, he just three hits for a .150 average. He struck out five times to just one walk. Joseph did notch three RBI and one double in that span.

Turning towards the rest of the winter leagues, Brock Stassi leads all Phillies hitters in OPS. In 27 games, he has a .293/.450/.543 line with five home runs and 19 RBI.

Stassi has 27 walks to his 21 strikeouts in the Venezuelan League. He served as Triple-A Lehigh Valley’s first baseman after Tommy Joseph reached the major-leagues.

Mitch Walding is also posting solid numbers in the Arizona Fall League. He has a .302 average to go along with his .875 OPS. On the other hand, just like he always has, his strikeouts have been incredibly high. In 53 at-bats, he already has 22 strikeouts. The third baseman split 2016 between High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

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Since reaching the Dominican League, Rhys Hoskins has continued his success from the regular season. Through 15 games so far, Hoskins has three home runs and 11 RBI to go along with his .857 OPS. His 7-to-11 walk-to-strikeout ratio is also solid.

Hoskins’s partner in crime this year, Dylan Cozens, has had mixed results so far in the Dominican. Eight of his 13 hits so far have gone for extra bases, but those 13 hits have come in 63 at-bats. He has a measly .206 average so far.

Cozens made headlines earlier in the week for reportedly getting into a fight during a game.

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Hoskins and Cozens made waves this season with their ridiculous numbers in Double-A. Cozens hit 40 home runs and Hoskins wasn’t too far behind with 38. The two shared the Paul Owens Award for the best hitting prospects in the farm system this year.