Rhys Hoskins Returns to Philadelphia With Guardians After 2023 Injury
rhys hoskins returned to Philadelphia this weekend with the Guardians and talked about the left knee injury that ended his 2023 Phillies season. He said he has wondered what might have happened if that spring-training play had gone differently, and Bryce Harper’s move to first base still hangs over the change.
Hoskins and Harper in Philadelphia
“Oh, of course I have,” Hoskins said when asked whether he has thought about the alternate path. He injured a ligament in his left knee while backpedaling for a chopper on the grass behind first base in a 2023 spring training game, then had season-ending surgery.
Harper moved to first base after the injury and said this week that Hoskins is one of his favorites he has ever played with. “I think about Rhyser all the time,” Harper said. “He’s one of my favorites I’ve ever played with.”
Harper stayed at first base
By the 2023-24 offseason, Hoskins was healthy and ready to play again, but Harper was already a full-fledged first baseman and the Phillies were not interested in putting him back in the outfield. That left Hoskins facing a different market after two years with the Brewers, and he signed a minor-league deal with the Guardians in spring training.
Harper put the cost of that shift into words. “You kind of feel bad in a certain way, I guess. Right? Because you think to yourself, if I wouldn’t have done this [learned to play first base], then maybe he’d still be here,” he said. “But I love Rhyser, man. When I see him in another uniform, it’s a little rough for me. I love seeing him. I loved playing with him. Great clubhouse guy. That’s one of the ones that kind of eats at me a little bit.”
Guardians role, Phillies need
Hoskins has not recreated his Phillies peak. He entered the weekend batting.185 with four homers and a.704 OPS, and since 2024 he has a.732 OPS and a 103 OPS-plus. He now plays mostly against left-handed pitching for Cleveland, a narrower role than the one he held in Philadelphia from 2017 to 2022, when he slugged.528 with 57 homers and a.913 OPS in 239 games as the club’s cleanup hitter.
The Phillies’ need at that spot has remained clear. Entering the weekend, they were batting.193 against non-opener left-handed starters and slugging.327 against them, which leaves the lineup still searching for the right-handed power Hoskins once supplied. His return in another uniform brought that change into the open again.
