There Are Way Bigger Things to Worry About With Phillies Than Rhys Hoskins

Rhys Hoskins is in a slump. An ill-timed slump, given the time of year and the Phillies' position in a crowded but still somehow winnable wild-card race.

Hoskins made four more outs Sunday. He's 1 for his last 24. He's hit .148 over his last 30 games.

This rut from Hoskins has affected the Phillies' record, but it's nothing more than a slump and shouldn't be viewed as such just because it is happening right now. It is not a sign that the organization needs to go out this offseason and find a better first baseman. It is not some definitive piece of evidence that Hoskins needs to move to the bottom of the order.

We always overvalue what we've just seen. Hoskins hasn't hit for a month, so his hot streaks become harder to recall and feel less long and less productive than they are.

But consider this: Hoskins' on-base percentage dipped below .380 Sunday for the first time since opening day. It took a stretch this cold for his on-base and power numbers to decrease to their current levels, which are still impressive.

Hoskins' OBP is 40 points higher than the league average for first basemen. His slugging percentage is 13 points higher than his first base peers and 40 points better than the league overall. He has made an out nearly 75 percent of the time he's stepped to the plate over the last month, yet is still having an offensive season better than at least half of the league's first basemen.

Sports

In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia

Eagles blog Apr 17

Jason Kelce lost his Super Bowl ring in the strangest way possible

Flyers news 42 mins ago

Ristolainen has surgery, Flyers expect him to be ready for 2024 training camp

Hoskins' numbers likely won't end up where they are now. We've seen too much evidence that he is a better hitter than this. A multi-year track record matters more than four weeks. It is a simple concept that always sounds logical until a player is in the midst of a run as poor as Hoskins'.

Will Hoskins finish the year hitting .237? Will his slump last much longer? If you're looking for a couple positive signs, take his 400-foot flyout to straightaway center that was a foot shy of tying Sunday's game in the eighth inning. Hoskins had better swings and tracked pitches better in that game than he has for much of the past month.

He was confident and didn't seem defeated after the game Sunday.

"Look, I feel great," he said after the Padres took two of three. "Obviously, it sucks to not contribute and not produce, but swing-wise, I feel great. I feel like for the most part I'm seeing pitches. I'm seeing the ball fine. Just for whatever reason things are a little off and the last couple weeks when I do click something, it's right at somebody.

"That's baseball. Unfortunately, I know that's really cliché. I wish I had a different answer. I've sat for hours and hours and looked at film trying to find something that I can go in the cage and take a thousand swings to fix, but at some point you just have to keep going up there and stuff will turn. Water will find its level."

"I'm feeling pretty protective of him right now," manager Gabe Kapler said, "because I know how hard he's working and I know how much effort and time he's putting in. The at-bat quality remains strong even though at the end, the results aren't there.

"I know how disappointed he is in it and I'm disappointed for him because I know this is going to turn around for him. I know these at-bats are going to end in doubles and homers."

Still realistic for Hoskins to finish with an OPS around .900 with 30-plus homers and 90-plus RBI. That would be a very good season. Maybe not a "great" season, but remember again that this is a third-year player making less than $600,000. Should a very good player be blamed for not being a great player?

There are just far more important things to worry about with this team in 2019 and beyond than Rhys Hoskins.

Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.