Rhys Hoskins, after so much, bat-spikes his way into Phillies lore

PHILADELPHIA He had waited his whole life for these 22.4 seconds around the bases. Rhys Hoskins arrived here as a first baseman jammed into left field and he has since existed in extremes. He once started a triple play from left field and he once flubbed a fly ball that led to six unearned

PHILADELPHIA — He had waited his whole life for these 22.4 seconds around the bases. Rhys Hoskins arrived here as a first baseman jammed into left field and he has since existed in extremes. He once started a triple play from left field and he once flubbed a fly ball that led to six unearned runs in a 20-run loss. He launched home runs in bunches and he went weeks looking as if he could not hit one.

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Now, in the third inning of his first postseason game at Citizens Bank Park, he raised his arms before the baseball cleared the green wall. He had been 1-for-19 in the postseason with one critical mistake in the field that hung over this National League Division Series. He spiked his bat, and he did not realize what he had done until a few innings later. He did not start jogging until six seconds after he connected with the first-pitch fastball from Spencer Strider.

His trot started at a normal pace around first base. Hoskins is 29, and he has carved a reputation as a productive player who might never reach the lofty heights envisioned for him. He is an easy target. He was installed as the de facto spokesman for teams that always failed to meet the pressure.

About halfway between second and third base, Hoskins’ pace accelerated. He is the streakiest of players. It is natural to ride the highs and bemoan the lows. He is who he is. He was booed in the first inning Friday when he struck out.

OH MY, @rhyshoskins. 😱#Postseason pic.twitter.com/LkEHjnH3H5

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2022

As he neared third base, Hoskins ran harder. He zoomed past third-base coach Dusty Wathan, his manager from six years ago when he authored a breakout season at Double-A Reading, and almost missed the handshake. “The fastest I’ve ever seen him,” Wathan said. “I’ve shaken his hand a lot of times around the bases since 2016. That’s definitely the fastest he’s flown by me.” He was in a dead sprint by the time he crossed home plate. He soared into a leaping arm bar with Bryson Stott.

Rhys Hoskins had done it.

“No one on this team,” Nick Castellanos said, “deserves that moment more than he does.”

Rhys Hoskins and Bryson Stott celebrate Hoskins’ three-run homer. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)

For years, the players who have come through this ballpark have always been skeptical. They did not understand the hype about playing home games in South Philadelphia. There wasn’t much of a vibe. A few years ago, a star opposing player asked Bryce Harper, “Why is it so easy for us to play here?” The Phillies players bristled. They asked for louder music. Anything. They wanted people to stop talking about the past.

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“Just wait,” those who knew told them. “Wait until you see this place in October.” Sure, the players said, and many who passed through the home dugout in the past decade never experienced it.

“It’s obviously something that I’ve heard about for a long time,” Hoskins said after the Phillies stomped the Braves 9-1 in Game 3 of the NLDS to nudge within one win of the NL Championship Series. “Debuting in 2017, seeing pictures, hearing stories, being around guys that were there … that type of thing.”

Hoskins is still here. This city has a complicated relationship with its homegrown first baseman who will never fulfill the expectations some held for him. He is not Ryan Howard. He is not an All-Star. He is prone to mistakes. He has received an outsized amount of criticism because, for years, he represented one of the few things that went right while the Phillies circled the drain. That was a blessing and a curse.

When Hoskins mashed the game-changing three-run homer Friday, Zach Eflin celebrated from the bullpen. Those two, along with Aaron Nola, have seen too much here. They have seen this thing stripped to its ugliest form. They were lumped into the muck.

They are rewriting everything with every postseason moment this October. Nola has not allowed an earned run in three straight outings. Eflin has overcome knee problems to become a dependable reliever. And Hoskins took one majestic swing Friday afternoon.

“The guy has Philly written all over him,” Eflin said. “Right? He’s hard-nosed. He’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate. He checks all the boxes. For him to go out there and do something like that … you pray that stuff happens to good people like that. It was freaking awesome. I think most of us blacked out in the bullpen. So happy for him and his family. It’s an awesome moment. He’s going to have a lot more opportunities this postseason to do something like that, too.”

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The tenor of this series changed in three pitches — beginning with Hoskins’ swing. It commenced a party in the blue seats for six innings as the sun set and the alcohol did its work.

“God, it was loud,” Hoskins said.

Phillies fans enjoyed the team’s first home postseason game in 11 years. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)

Before Harper came to Philadelphia, it was Hoskins’ team, and it is bizarre in retrospect to think about that. He had to grow up fast; his mother, Cathy Reynolds, died of breast cancer before Hoskins turned 16. The placeholders passing through the organization looked to Hoskins because he hit home runs and had leadership qualities. A club starved for something good latched on to Hoskins, and it might have been detrimental. He was presented as the next star.

Maybe he was miscast. That does not lessen his influence on this organization, on this Phillies team inching closer and closer to the next step in this improbable postseason story.

“I’ve been telling guys, like, your moment’s coming,” Hoskins said. “Your moment’s coming. And I’ve been telling myself that, too. I think a little bit of an anticipation of that is something that will make you a little bit more ready for it. And I just think it’s crazy how (much) one swing of the bat can change, for good or for bad.”

With one swing of the bat, Rhys Hoskins changed Game 3 and the NLDS. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)

This is the Rhys Hoskins that Wathan, who has watched him play as much baseball as anyone, knows. It requires a certain fortitude for an inconsistent player to reach the next hot streak.

“He’s been through a lot in his life,” Wathan said. “He understands what he needs to do to get ready. Understanding the moment. He’s going to keep doing his work every single day. It’ll end up paying off. It ends up paying off for him a lot.”

Maybe, in the end, Hoskins embodies these Phillies. Everyone here had seen so much in a decade to doubt they could discover something good. No one here was permitted good things. They cranked the music as loud as possible — even put a massive speaker in the backstop — but the doubt persisted.

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And the doubt some harbored about Hoskins had never been louder.

“He’s hit a lot of big homers here, and he’s taken a lot of grief since the last game we played just because of the error,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I’m so happy for him. And there, again, there’s toughness there.”

That, Castellanos said, is what has stuck in his head as he’s come to know Hoskins. Castellanos is observant. He has come to understand how difficult it is to play in a rabid market and in the NL East. It makes him appreciate Hoskins even more.

“He should be the spokesperson for our team,” Castellanos said. “You know? He’s unbelievably educated. He’s such a good public speaker. He’s just a really likable, hardworking, consistent human being. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Now, there is more respect. The Braves intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber to face Hoskins in the fateful third inning. “They’re obviously telling me something right away before I even step in the box,” Hoskins said. No matter what happens Saturday in Game 4 or for the rest of October, the bat spike will be replayed in this ballpark as long as it stands. That is respect.

Twenty-nine minutes after his moment came, Hoskins stepped to the plate. It was 6:08 p.m. ET. The fans rose in unison to greet him with a standing ovation.

Rhys Hoskins had done it.

Related: Weird and Wild — Inside the Phillies’ 6-run third inning

(Top photo: Bill Streicher / USA Today)

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