The Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday announced that an MRI has revealed that first baseman Rhys Hoskins has torn the ACL in his left knee. He will undergo surgery to repair the injury in the coming days.
While the team did not offer a specific timetable for his return, it is very possible that Hoskins could end up missing the whole of the 2023 season given the general recovery ranges for these kinds of serious knee injuries.
Hoskins suffered the unfortunate tear during Thursday morning's spring training matchup with the Detroit Tigers while scrambling to retrieve a grounder. He immediately went down in pain on the play in question.
The club had to call for a cart to take him off the field. While manager Rob Thomson later indicated that Hoskins was able to walk under his own power in the clubhouse, imaging subsequently revealed the devastating injury.
This all marks a horrible development for team and player alike. Hoskins had been set to occupy his typical middle-of-the-order lineup spot for the defending National League champions. A paragon of offensive consistency, he has hit between 27 and 34 home runs in all four of his full MLB seasons.
Hoskins pairs that power with plus-walk totals which more than compensates for his slightly higher than average strikeout rates. Even after accounting for Philadelphia’s hitter-friendly home park, he has been a well above-average offensive player throughout his career.
Hoskins is coming off a typically solid 2022 season, connecting on 30 homers with a .246/.332/.462 batting line while lacing up his spikes in 156 regular season games. While Hoskins hit only .159 with a .205 on-base percentage in the playoffs, he did pop six homers in 73 postseason plate appearances.
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