Phillies, Mets sluggers on ‘Hitter Power Rankings’ before pivotal series

Phillies stars Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto are among MLB’s hottest hitters.

As the Philadelphia Phillies prepare for a big weekend series against their division-rival New York Mets at Citi Field, four sluggers — two from each club — are featured on MLB Network’s latest “Hitter Power Rankings.”

Behind New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge — who leads Major League Baseball with 45 home runs leader — Mets star infielder Francisco Lindor ranks second on the list. A four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Lindor is slashing .359/.458/.615 this month with one double, three home runs, 11 RBI, seven walks and just eight strikeouts spanning 48 plate appearances.

Following Paul Goldschmidt (St. Louis Cardinals), Austin Riley (Atlanta Braves), Juan Soto (San Diego Padres) and Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros), Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins is listed eighth on the power rankings list.

The Phillies would not have been able to surge recently in the standings without Hoskins. Last week, the six-year veteran impressively homered in the first inning in three consecutive games, becoming the first Phillie to do so since at least 1900.

While Hoskins hit just 1-for-11 with a double, walk, and four strikeouts during the recent series against the Miami Marlins, he slugged four home runs and six RBI in his previous four games and 15 plate appearances.

Trailing just behind Hoskins is one of Lindor’s newest teammates — designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach. Since the Mets acquired the left-handed power bat from the Pittsburgh Pirates last month, the seven-year veteran is hitting .341/.473/.568 with four doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, 10 walks and 14 strikeouts across 15 games and 55 plate appearances.

After launching his third-career grand slam on August 3, Vogelbach is batting .389 with three extra-base hits and six RBI in six games and 21 plate appearances since.

Last on the Top-10 list is Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who produced the game-winning run in Wednesday’s thrilling comeback win. The “Best Catcher in Baseball” has a double, pair of triples, three home runs, eight RBI and just four strikeouts spanning his last 18 plate appearances — slashing .444/.444/1.222.

The Phillies will play the Mets seven times in their next 10 games. If they want to make up ground in the National League East standings, there is no better time than now.