Rhys Hoskins underwent a meniscectomy on his right knee in December, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters. The relatively minor procedure corrected some “wear and tear,” Thomson said, and Hoskins is expected to make his in-game spring debut sometime this week.
Now entering his age-30 season, Hoskins has been a quality hitter pretty much from day one in Philadelphia, hitting .242/.353/.492 with 148 home runs and producing a 125 wRC+ over 2877 career plate appearances in six MLB seasons. Hoskins would naturally love to keep that production going in order to help the Phillies’ chances at returning to the World Series, but a big 2023 campaign would also help Hoskins as he enters free agency next winter. The Phils already have a lot of long-term money on the books and might soon add another pricey deal if they reach an extension with Aaron Nola (another pending free agent), but it stands to reason that the club would also have some interest in locking Hoskins up to an extension. That said, Boras Corporation clients like Hoskins usually end up testing the open market, and the Phillies might have some reservations about committing a long-term deal to a first base-only player.
More from around the NL East…
- Eddie Rosario followed up his 2021 NLCS MVP performance with a dismal 2022 season, as the outfielder hit only .212/.259/.328 over 270 plate appearances with the Braves. Vision problems were the root cause of Rosario’s struggles, as Rosario started to have trouble seeing the ball during last year’s Spring Training, and he still needed some adjustment time even after undergoing laser surgery and missing over two months of the season. Fortunately, “everything is good now. I feel really good and I see really well,” Rosario told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, and both manager Brian Snitker and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer have been impressed by Rosario’s seeming return to his old form early in camp. A revived Rosario would instantly solve the Braves’ question mark in left field, and provide a nice boost to an Atlanta team that is hoping to compete for another world championship. 2023 is the final guaranteed season of Rosario’s two-year, $18MM deal with Atlanta, though the Braves hold a $9MM club option on the veteran for the 2024 campaign.
- The Mets will use Ronny Mauricio at shortstop and Mark Vientos as a corner infielder this spring, rather than continue to audition the prospects at different positions. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that plans might change in the future, and some obvious roadblocks (i.e. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Eduardo Escobar, and fellow prospect Brett Baty) seem to be preventing Mauricio or Vientos from playing their regular positions at the big league level. Of course, it is always possible that the win-now Mets might look to move either Mauricio or Vientos for a proven Major Leaguer, though New York has thus far been pretty resistant about moving too many top-tier prospects for immediate help.