That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies fans should be cautiously optimistic about Rhys Hoskins

By Chris Valenti

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies acknowledges a standing ovation by the fans after hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park on August 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 6-3. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies acknowledges a standing ovation by the fans after hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park on August 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 6-3. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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Should Phillies fans be cautiously optimistic on Rhys Hoskins after seeing what happened to Dom Brown and other players in the past?

Dom Brown’s career with the Phillies followed the script of the can’t miss prospect that missed. Once ranked the number one prospect in baseball ahead of Mike Trout, Brown never lived up to expectations, and is now currently in Triple-A in the Rockies organization.

After being called up and sent back down numerous times, Brown exploded over a six-week span from April 27 until June 8 which led to him being a National League All- Star in 2013.

During this span, Brown would bat .325 with 17 home runs, and flash the offensive ability that scouts had been clamoring about for years. The city of Philadelphia thought the next star was born, and Brown would help the Phillies sustain success, and be the new core piece on a team that was aging quickly.

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Unfortunately, Brown’s production ended up being a blip rather than a trend. After June 8, he would bat .239 with 23 home runs in his final 284 Major League games.

One may ask what this has to do with Rhys Hoskins. The answer is simple.  A few weeks do not define an entire career.

It is undisputable that Hoskins has been fantastic in his short time in the Major Leagues to date.

Hoskins was called up Aug. 10, and after a couple underwhelming games, found himself in a groove, and has not yet looked back.

So far since his call up, Hoskins has hit .304, with 19 runs scored, and 11 home runs. Along with these fantastic numbers in the big leagues, Hoskins also took home the International League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards over the past weekend.

Hoskins also made baseball history with his production so far in the Majors. Hoskins is currently third all time for the highest OPS in a player’s first month in the majors, with an ops of 1.149.

Number two on that list is future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols. In April of 2001 Pujols had an OPS of 1.171. With Pujols as number two on the list, one would assume that number one would be an all time great as well.

This is not the case, as the player with the highest ops in player’s first month in the Majors is Yasiel Puig, who had an ops of 1.180 in June of 2013.

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Many Dodger fans felt the same way about Puig as Phillies fans currently feel about Rhys Hoskins, and how past Phillies fans felt about Dom Brown.

Puig, like Brown was never able to find the sustained success that he put together that month, to the point the Dodger have strongly considered trading him the past couple seasons as he has underachieved, been injured, and been a distraction in the club house.

Hot streaks happen, and nothing is guaranteed in baseball. Another example of this notion is Chris Shelton.

Most fans do not remember Chris Shelton and what he did in 2006.

In the first 13 games of the season, Shelton hit nine home runs. A feat in baseball history that only Mike Schmidt, Luis Gonzalez, and Larry Walker had accomplished at that time.

By the middle of the season, Shelton had come back down to earth, and was optioned down to Triple- A

While Hoskins has showed no signs of slowing down, the unfortunate reality is that like Dom Brown, Yasiel Puig, Chris Shelton, and countless others, things can go downhill quickly.

Next: Phillies release RHP Casey Fien after rehab

This is not to say that Hoskins will be the next Brown, and will be another prospect that never lives up to the hype. This is also not to say that it is wrong to be optimistic.  All this is, is a message to fans to take a step back, temper your expectations, and see what happens before we deem him the next great Philadelphia athlete.

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