Rhys Hoskins put up strong offensive numbers in his first full season with the Phillies. How does he grade out for the year?
No one on the Phillies received more attention than Rhys Hoskins coming into the 2018 season. In his electric rookie season, he hit 18 home runs, drove in 48 runs, and posted a 1.014 OPS in 50 games. At the end of the year, he received one second-place and nine third-place Rookie of the Year votes.
While it was wholly unrealistic to expect Hoskins to continue his torrid hitting pace through all of 2019, he started off quite hot with a .303/.457/.528 line, four home runs, eight doubles, and 19 runs batted in through April.
Hoskins struggled heavily in May, breaking his jaw when he fouled off a pitch at the end of the month. He missed a week recovering, which was much shorter than originally thought when the injury was first diagnosed. He was hot through June and July, but his batting average dipped in the last two months of the season.
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Overall, Hoskins finished the year with a .246/.354/.496 line, hitting 34 home runs, driving in 96 runs, and scoring 89 runs. He walked in 13.2% of his plate appearances and struck out in 22.7% of them.
Positives
Hoskins was a strong offensive contributor across the board. His 34 home runs were the most by a Phillie since Ryan Howard’s 45 in 2009. Hoskins’ 96 RBI are the most since Howard’s 108 in 2010.
When looking at former Phils, that’s good company to be in.
Among qualified National League hitters, Hoskins ranks 14th in wRC+ (129), 16th in weighted on-base average (.363), seventh in isolated power (.251), tied for sixth in home runs, 10th in RBI, and 20th in home run to fly ball ratio (16.0%). Hoskins ranks 13th in Fangraphs offensive value (25.4) and 30th in Baseball-Reference offensive wins above replacement (3.4) among all NL hitters.
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Negatives
If you haven’t noticed yet, I still have not brought up Hoskins’ defense in left field. That is because it was downright awful. It’s hard to fully blame him for it as he was never supposed to be playing the position long-term. It was only supposed to get him playing time as injuries piled up in the outfield last year. Instead, the Carlos Santana signing forced him to be the starting left fielder.
Hoskins’ six errors were tied for 10th-most among all outfielders. He ranked third-worst in defensive runs saved (-24) and second-worst in UZR/150 (-14.9) and outs made above average (-19) among qualified outfielders.
Hoskins also had the worst Fangraphs defensive value (-19.2) and Baseball-Reference defensive wins above replacement (-3.6) among all players.
In addition, while Hoskins’ overall offensive numbers were good, they varied greatly throughout the month. The chart below graphs Hoskins OPS by month.
Hoskins’ streakiness led to stretches of him tearing the cover off the ball, but also plenty of times where simply couldn’t do anything offensively. A lot of it stems from his leg kick, which creates his power but also can lead to timing issues.
If this grade was offense-only, Hoskins would easily get an A. However, with his defensive weighing down his overall value, I have to give him a B+.
Will he return?
Short answer here: duh. Hoskins was far and away the best offensive player on the team, leading them in numerous categories. While his numbers fluctuated throughout the season, his season-long numbers were tremendous.
A better question to ask would be where does Hoskins return. His defense in left field was a major issue and cost the team and several points throughout the season. Moving Hoskins back to first base is the easiest way to erase his negative defensive value. At the end of the year, the team toyed with playing Santana at third base and Hoskins at first with Maikel Franco out. The early results were positive and it could be a sign of things to come in 2019.
Another question to ask is if and when Hoskins will sign a long-term extension. He just signed with Scott Boras, who has a history of convincing his players to hit free agency. Of course, if Hoskins wants to stay in Philadelphia long-term (and the team wants to offer him a deal), one will certainly get worked out.
Hoskins had a great first full major-league season. If he can keep building on this, he can jump into the next echelon of player.