Joseph feeding off the push Hoskins provides
PHILADELPHIA » It’s easy to get caught up in the ongoing Rhys Hoskins hype. The Phillies rookie ramped it up again Thursday amid a 9-8 loss to the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.
In only his 15th big league game, Hoskins hit another homer and collected three more RBIs to extend what is one of the most remarkable career power starts in major league history. The super stats guys say Hoskins’ eight home runs in 11 games is the fastest run of homers by any rookie while playing in his first 15 games. Or something like that.
So it’s not so easy to follow all the statistical stories you hear, but either way it’s easy to be caught up in the joy of watching Hoskins ... unless, perhaps, you’re a guy like Tommy Joseph, still the man most likely to be moved in order to create a permanent position for Rhys.
As it stands now, Hoskins has found a (temporary?) home in left field, despite playing almost all of his professional career at first base. He hasn’t looked bad out there, but with both Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr laid up with injuries, the Phillies’ outfield in general on this ultrasunny Thursday afternoon was primed for pratfalls.
Either way, it’s probably not the long-term stage upon which Hoskins’ Philadelphia career will be staged. That would be first base ... currently occupied by a motivated guy named Thomas Joseph.
“Rhys being here has nothing to do with me playing well,” Joseph said after a three-hit afternoon that included a three-run, third-inning homer that provided a short-lived 8-3 Phillies lead. “It has a lot to do with, you know, I think the fire inside any player. It doesn’t want to just continue to fail the same way. So it was a matter of changing something. Whether it was in my stance or thought process or anything like that, you have to make an adjustment as a player.
“I did a very good job of getting out the same exact way for the better part of August. So in the last couple of days I’ve been able to do some things better.”
Joseph’s power game had hit the skids in mid-summer. From July 7 through Aug. 18 he only had one home run. From the start of the month until being sat from games in San Francisco last weekend, his batting average tumbled 23 points to .236.
Then the Phillies came home, with Hoskins’ hot streak revving up the roars. Joseph responded to the atmospheric change. He hit three homers in the four-game series against the Marlins, including a bomb to left for his 19th of the season Thursday.
Joseph has bounced back to a slash line of .243/.296/.440. But he wanted everyone to know this recovery was the product of inner work, not outside motivation.
“Mentally I just needed to hunt that heater a little bit more,” Joseph said. “I was a little tardy (on pitches) or just kind of shortened up the approach. All I was able to think about was to see the heater and adjust to spin and speed off of that.
“I think I’m doing a better job because I’m getting into hitter’s counts. But I’m getting in hitter’s counts because I’m hunting the heater. When you’re hunting the heater you’re able to get things out in front. I’d hit a lot of ground balls to the right side, a lot of weak pop-ups to the right side. But a lot of good things happen when you get it out in front.”
If Hoskins winds up finding a home in left field for a Phillies team that should be much better structured offensively down the stretch this season, that would be another good thing for both Joseph and the Phillies. If they get Maikel Franco going they could develop a powerful presence through the middle of the order.
“We’re getting close,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “It’s a better feeling, being able to fill in the top five spots and go from there. Now we’re going to have (Daniel) Nava and Herrera coming back, and Altherr at some point, so we’re going to adjust.”
*** With Altherr and Herrera unavailable, life is interesting for Nick Williams. Not accustomed to playing center, he found out how tough a spot it can be at Citizens Bank Park on a clear day under a 1 o’clock sun.
Williams misplayed one fly ball into a single in the first inning, then with two outs, completely lost sight of a deep but routine fly ball by Marcell Ozuna which wound up going for an RBI double. “The first inning was weird,” Williams said. “I’ve played here in day games before, but (the sun) was never right in on top of me like that. That really aggravated me. I was upset about that . ... I just had to bounce back.”
Williams did that at the plate, with two hits and a pair of RBIs, boosting his average to .293.
“He’s being aggressive,” Mackanin said of Williams. “The key to being a good hitter is to not miss mistakes, and if you’re aggressive, and you’re looking to hit every pitch and adjust to the breaking ball, that’s the way you have to approach hitting.”
*** While Hoskins and Williams continue to pound the baseball and excite the masses (of under 20,000) at Citizens Bank Park, Franco continues to struggle at the plate.
The guy who two years ago caused the kind of stir Hoskins is creating now went oh-for-3 out of the No. 7 spot in the order Thursday. He’s hitting only .221. He has 17 homers, but only one this month.
The once-popular theory was Franco was putting too much responsibility on his shoulders to be the run producer in a weak Phillies lineup. But with Hoskins and Williams both adding power, Franco’s power stroke continues to travel south.
“He just hasn’t been able to make the adjustment and it’s not like he’s not trying,” Mackanin said of Franco. “He does a lot of cage work, and he’s not adjusting. He’s still pulling off (pitches).”
*** NOTES » Herrera should return from his hamstring injury absence this weekend, and utility man Nava should soon be back, too. Altherr is targeted for a return in early September. Either way, with Hoskins and Williams that will cause a logjam in the Phils’ outfield. So look for Nava to be added to another team’s playoff roster if he clears waivers and gets traded before the waiver deadline of midnight on Aug. 31 . ... Jake Thompson looked mostly uninspiring Thursday in a spot start for the Phils. He went five innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking four. Then again, former Phil Vance Worley was worse, lasting only four innings and giving up eight runs.