Rhys Hoskins is back and in the Phillies’ lineup Sunday afternoon in San Diego after missing most of the month of August.
To make room for Hoskins, the Phillies optioned struggling third baseman Alec Bohm to Triple A. Bohm played himself off the field with his defense and has been used sparingly of late, starting only two of the Phillies' last 10 games.
At Triple A, Bohm will be able to play every day and work on his defense in game situations. It is certainly not the path the Phillies hoped for after his dynamic rookie season but progress for young players is not always linear.
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The Phils were in dire need of Hoskins' bat. Hoskins suffered a groin injury in late July. He tried to push through it and avoid a stint on the injured list, participating in all four games of the Phillies’ sweep in D.C. from August 2-5. But even after going 5 for 10 with a homer and five RBI in the final two games of that series, he didn’t look right running the bases and the Phillies sat him for another few days.
Hoskins was still on the active roster at that point until the Phillies finally IL’d him on August 10.
In total, Hoskins missed 17 games from July 30 through August 21. The Phillies went 7-10 in those games, mainly because the entire offense went cold. The Phillies are 3-8 since their eight-game winning streak, ranking last in MLB over that span in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and home runs.
Brad Miller spent most of the month at first base and did not hit, batting .147 and playing poor defense. His seventh-inning error Saturday night ended Aaron Nola's perfect game bid.
MLB
Hoskins still leads the Phillies with 29 doubles, 24 home runs and 68 RBI despite missing 19 games. His .841 OPS is second on the team to Harper, and his slugging percentage (.509) is the highest it's been since his rookie year.
Andrew McCutchen was out of the Phillies' lineup Sunday after striking out five times Saturday:
1. Odubel Herrera, LF
2. Jean Segura, 2B
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. J.T. Realmuto, C
5. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
6. Didi Gregorius, SS
7. Ronald Torreyes, 3B
8. Travis Jankowski, CF
9. Kyle Gibson, P
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