January 30, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Rhys Hoskins rounding the bases on his homer from Game 3 of the 2022 World Series.
Rhys Hoskins knows things are going to be different now, but he sees a great fit for himself in Milwaukee with the Brewers, is amped to finally get back on the field again after so long, and above all...
"I feel like I’ll always be able to call Philly home," the now former Phillies first baseman said (via MLB.com's Todd Zolecki). "But I’m excited for a new chapter and to revisit those memories when the time is right.”
Hoskins, who signed with the Brewers on a two-year, $34 million deal in free agency, had his introductory Zoom call with the Milwaukee media on Monday and touched on his continued rehab from a torn ACL suffered last spring, his exit from the Phillies after spending his whole career to this point within the organization, that eventual return to Citizens Bank Park coming up in early June, and the last steps needed to finally get back on to the field.
"Emotionally, I'm in a great spot," Hoskins said of the past few months since the Phillies' postseason run – and, in turn, his time in Philadelphia – ended in the NLCS. "I'm more just ready to make an impact on a team again.
"I'll have very fond memories of my time in Philly. I'll be excited to go back, whenever that is. And yeah, [the Phillies] were upfront with me at the start of the offseason, which I think was probably a good thing for me, just emotionally, being able to kind of get a little closure after a weird year and to move on to whatever is next, which I think ended up being a great fit here in Milwaukee."
Drafted by the Phillies as a fifth-round pick out of college in 2014, Hoskins rose through the minor-league system quickly, and by 2017, developed into a piece of the core for the organization's lengthy rebuild. Through the many, many downs and incredibly high ups over the years, Hoskins was a constant in all of it, but after a long-awaited playoff breakthrough and the miracle run to the World Series that followed in 2022, an ACL tear while fielding a grounder in spring training robbed Hoskins of being a part of the encore in 2023 – and in a contract year.
He hung around the team as much as he could while rehabbing, and had hopes of making a possible return as a bench bat for the World Series had the Phillies made it all the way back. But in all that time away from the field, Bryce Harper had picked up first base and was good at it, and with the Phils' lineup stacked as is already, there wasn't any real room left moving forward. The writing had long been on the wall.
Still, with a presence that had been that large on and off the field in Philadelphia leaving, that sort of goodbye is never easy for either side, even when you know it's coming.
But in a place where there is a spot, Hoskins is ready to finally just play again.
"I'll be stoked to get going on the field," Hoskins said. "I'm pretty bored as a competitor not having played in so long."
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