During Thursday’s Spring-Training game against the Detroit Tigers, a fairly routine ground ball bounced toward first base and sent Rhys Hoskins backing up to field it.
During that process, Hoskins’ knee appeared to bend awkwardly due to a non-contact injury and he had to be carted off the field.
The Phillies have now confirmed the bad news as the team announced that Hoskins suffered an ACL tear on that play.
No date or surgeon has been decided at this time, so no official timetable has been given. That said, an ACL tear will require surgery and typically takes nine months of recovery time, meaning that Hoskins will likely not play at all during the 2023 season.
The injury may also hurt Hoskins’ free agency as he was set to be one of the top hitters in a weak free agent class for 2023. A power hitter who struggles with defense and is coming off an ACL tear could drop his value on the open market, particularly if he misses an entire season.
How the team replaces Hoskins in the lineup is yet to be seen, but they do have internal options.
For one, Darick Hall was likely in line for a spot on the roster as a DH, but might pickup some defensive duty to allow others to DH some more and the Phillies to rest guys. The Phillies could also look to preserve JT Realmuto’s knees a bit and get Garrett Stubbs into the lineup a bit more by playing Realmuto at first.
Though not ideal, this likely opens up a roster spot for an additional player of the group competing for the bench spots that have been lighting it up during spring training (Jake Cave, Dalton Guthrie, Darick Hall, Scott Kingery).
