By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
In August of 2017, Rhys Hoskins' first month in the major leagues, he hit home runs at a Barry Bonds-esque clip – literally. Hoskins hit 11 home runs in August of 2017, the same amount the Bonds hit in April of 2001, the first month of the season in which he went on to set the single-season MLB record with 73 home runs. While chances are that Hoskins wouldn't have hit 73 home runs had he played a full season in the MLB, Baseball Reference's adjusted statistics tool projects that if Hoskins had played the entirety of the 2017 season at the major league level, he would have hit 58 home runs, the same amount that Ryan Howard hit in his National League MVP season of 2006.
So what is Hoskins doing for his second act? Rather than hitting home runs at the pace of Bonds or Howard, he's hitting like Ted Williams to open the 2018 season. For what it's worth, Hoskins is hitting .429 through his first 28 at-bats. Williams hit .448 in the first 28 at-bats that he had as a starter in 1941, the year that he finished the season with a .406 average. However, Williams actually was a pinch-hitter for much of the first month of that season and posted "just" a .321 average in his first 28 at-bats in 1941.
Is Hoskins going to hit over .400 in 2018? Considering no one has finished the season with an average over .400 since Williams – including Tony Gwynn, Larry Walker, Chipper Jones and Ichiro Suziki – he almost certainly won't. Still, it makes you think that many preseason projections, which estimated that Hoskins would hit a ton of home runs but bat in the .260s, were very wrong.
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Like he has at various levels over the past two seasons, Hoskins figures to hit a ton of home runs in 2018. He added his second home run of the season in Monday night's 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds. But months like last September – when Hoskins' home run output slowed down a bit and he hit just .227 – figure to be few and far between.
The 25-year-old, who has made all nine of his starts in 2018 at left field, may not be among the league leaders in home runs thus far, but he is in nearly every other major offensive category. His aforementioned .429 batting average leads all major leaguers. His .553 on-base percentage is tied with the scorching hot Bryce Harper for the major league lead. He trails only Harper and New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius in slugging percentage, runs created, adjusted batting runs, adjusted batting wins, OPS and adjusted OPS. His 0.8 oWAR is tied with Manny Machado for fourth in the majors.
Perhaps the most encouraging part about Hoskins' 2018 season thus far is how willing he is to let teams pitch around him. Through his first 38 plate appearances in 2018, Hoskins has walked eight times. In the final two games of this past weekend's series against the Miami Marlins, Hoskins was walked on four pitches four different times. When you're hitting at the clip that Hoskins is, teams will begin to pitch around you. The best thing that you can do as a hitter is allow them to do that and keep the line moving.
One of the things that made Bonds the most dominant offensive player in the history of the sport was that he was willing to work walks – intentional or otherwise. Bonds walked 232 times in 2004, an MLB record. Not only did Bonds not press at the plate when teams pitched around him, but he continued to punish teams that did pitch to him. In addition to walking 232 times in 2004, Bonds slashed .362/.609/.812 with 45 home runs, a 1.422 OPS and just 41 strikeouts.
Even though he walked four times between the final two games of the Marlins series, Hoskins still recorded three hits – two of which were doubles – and drove in three runs. His ability to bring the same approach to every at-bat will bode well as teams start to pitch around Hoskins more frequently.
What also works in Hoskins' favor is that the Phillies have built a lineup around him that's going to allow him to be successful.
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While opposing teams would like to make someone other than Hoskins beat them, Cesar Hernandez is hitting .313 out of the leadoff spot, and Carlos Santana – who has hit second in every game thus far – is regularly among the league leaders in walks. Odubel Herrera, quietly, is batting .321. He, Aaron Altherr and Scott Kingery have all hit out of the No. 3 spot, in front of Hoskins, in 2018. So Hoskins often comes to the plate with at least one person already on base, if not more.
In the event that Hoskins comes to the plate without runners on base, he can feel comfortable taking a walk because the Phillies are producing behind him. On a given night, if Hoskins reaches base, the two batters coming up behind him will be some combination of Herrera, Altherr, Kingery, Maikel Franco and Nick Williams.
There was a feeling from some around the sport this Spring Training that the Phillies had the potential to have a lineup that scored quite a few runs. Still, the impression was that they lacked a top-flight talent to hit in the middle of the lineup. What Hoskins has shown in less than 10 games is that not only do the Phillies not lack a hitter capable of hitting in the middle of their lineup, but they may have one of the very best in baseball.
