Despite a five-game lead over the rest of the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies' woes against the New York Mets continued in their most recent series at Citi Field earlier this week. The Phillies, despite coming close in Game 2, were swept by their adversaries. They certainly looked like they could use an injection of energy from former fan favorite Rhys Hoskins.
With a lineup and rotation that looked worn out, plus some interesting words from Philly's Greatest Showman, it left fans feeling the sense of urgency Bryce Harper was talking about. This team, which once had such a fire against the Mets, has continuously fallen flat against their rivals, a trend that one could argue stems from the London Series split. The Phillies have lost 10 straight and 24 of their last 30 in New York.
Could Rhys Hoskins be the missing link in this version of the Phillies and Mets rivalry?
This fan's theory is that the rivalry cooled off and began to swing in the Mets' favor when Hoskins, one of their biggest adversaries, unfortunately departed from the Phillies in 2024. Before the Phillies' homegrown talent left in free agency, this heated battle between Philly and New York seemed to hit an all-time high.
Hoskins led the charge after former Mets reliever Jacob Rhame threw at his head early in 2019. After the incident, Hoskins reignited the rivalry by blasting a home run off Rhame the following night and took 34.2 seconds to round the bases, one of the slowest home run trots in MLB since 2015.
In his first season with the Milwaukee Brewers, Hoskins' feud with his former division rivals continued. Meanwhile, the Phillies' animosity toward the Mets has shifted somewhat into resentment, with little fight against a New York team that has only grown stronger since the beginning of the 2024 season. With the Phillies having named Harper their everyday first baseman, it was unfortunate that the team needed to part ways with one of the few successful minor league prospects turned pro. One of the first big moments of the 2024 Opening Weekend was when Hoskins sparked a bench-clearing feud in his first series with his new team.
The benches clear between the Mets and Brewers after Jeff McNeil takes exception to a hard slide into second base from Rhys Hoskins pic.twitter.com/NN4ee8ea0Y
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2024
While the team has moved on from Hoskins, he has always been and will always be welcome in Philadelphia and clearly plays with the city's rivalry still in his heart. A reunion with Hoskins is out of the cards after he exercised his player option for the 2025 season, officially closing the Philadelphia chapter of his career. The righty continues to struggle with injuries; however, he's currently starting a rehab assignment with Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, after suffering a Grade 2 left thumb UCL sprain and a bone bruise in early July, per MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
In addition to the Mets knowing how to handle the Phillies' offense, their lineup is also familiar with Phillies pitching, as a majority of players have been with the team for a while or at least within the division.
Even though the Phillies and Hoskins are no longer synonymous, they could learn from the grit of their former first baseman. While the Mets have seemingly dominanted the Phillies since his departure, at least at Citi Field, Hoskins' fire is still red-hot against the orange and blue.