Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins has huge goal for end of season return

For Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, he entered the 2023 MLB season with great aspirations, looking to help ballclub once again in reaching the postseason to settle some unfinished business from last year. But all of that seemed to have ended prematurely, as Hoskins would suffer an ACL tear in his left knee, leading to his season-ending injury before the month of April had even come around. It was definitely a crushing blow to both Hoskins and the Phillies, as the regular season hadn’t even started and they were now down a star-calibre player for the rest of the year.

Well, at least that was what they initially thought…until now.

Word has come out of Hoskins’ camp that he has not given up on the season just yet, in particular if the Phillies do the inevitable and make the playoffs, according to Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hoskins has recently rejoined the team and intend to travel on road trips with the ballclub for the rest of the season, while participating in on-field workouts and drills in the process.

With the presence now of his teammates, he reflected on how being with the team has helped him mentally with the recovery process.

It’s just thinking about things that I haven’t had to think about in the last 16 weeks. It’s tough sometimes. Being around the game and not being able to play it is tough … But being around these games, being able to talk about the game rather than talk about my rehab, getting a three-hour break away from so much energy being poured into my knee and my body, I think it’s a good thing all around … I think in the rehab process, especially while the season is going on, you can feel like you’re blending into the background … But being around, and good people being good people, makes a difference.

He has also credited teammate Kyle Schwarber, who had suffered the same injury as Hoskins over seven years ago, in helping him with coping with the injury.

He’s been a huge help just because he knows. And I know that he knows. It’s, ‘How is the running going? How does it feel to backpedal? Where is your pain?' ... It makes me feel like I’m not alone in this. That goes a long way.

In doing so, Hoskins’ main focus is now to get himself in shape and back to full strength as he seems determined in making a return by the postseason, should the Phillies make it. For both Hoskins’ and the Phillies’ sake, let’s hope both come to fruition.