Tommy Joseph: The Phillies Future at First Base?

By: Matt Alberston, Historical Columnist

Tommy Joseph may very well be the surprise bat for the Phillies this season, according to a recent article by Todd Zolecki. That might raise a few eyebrows, so before we get into an assessment, let's take a quick trip down a jagged memory lane.

The first era of 21st century Phillies greatness began to crumble during the 2012 regular season when then-GM Ruben Amaro traded fan favorite Hunter Pence, arguably the goofiest baseball player to appear on a diamond since Rube Waddell ("The Bird" Mark Fidrych is a close second), to the San Francisco Giants on July 31 for Seth Rosin, Nate Schierholtz, and Tommy Joseph. Inquirer columnist Matt Gelb commented that "the hauls for Pence [was] significant. The Giants included their No. 2-ranked prospect, catcher Tommy Joseph, who instantly becomes the top position-player prospect in the Phillies system." 

As we are well aware, the Giants won the 2012 and 2014 World Series with Hunter Pence in the outfield. He slashed .286/.313/.357 in the 2012 World Series and .444/.500/.667 in the 2014 fall classic. The Phillies, by contrast, slid from perennial contender between 2007-2011 to a club chained to the past, unable to play above .500 ball. But Tommy Joseph was a bright spot in the club's future; Amaro was excited that Joseph threw out 48 percent (19 of 40) of the runners who tried to steal against him when he was at Double-A Richmond. Unfortunately, the Phillies' hopes for Joseph turned to anguish as the promising catcher suffered from multiple concussions, endangering his career and resulting in his move to first base.  The Phillies outrighted Joseph from the 40 man roster in October 2015 and he spent Spring Training 2016 in minor league camp. 

In 27 games at Triple A Lehigh Valley, Joseph slashed .347/.370/.611, clouted six home runs and drove in 17 runs. He was promoted to the majors in mid-May and didn't disappoint in a platoon situation with aging first baseman Ryan Howard. In 107 games, Joseph slashed .257/.308/.505 and hit 21 bombs while driving in 47. Zolecki points out that Joseph ranked ninth out of 31 first basemen  in terms of OPS with an .834 mark. It was the most remarkable turnaround a Phillies player has had in a long time. 

Tommy Joseph is penned in as the Phillies full-time first baseman leading into Spring Training 2017. It's a far cry from where he was at this point last year. Zolecki dares to dream with a not-so-farfetched idea that Joseph could be a top tier MLB first baseman if he's able to hit 30+ home runs, drive in 90+ runs and sport an .850+ OPS. Given his statistics from last year, it's not something that is completely out of question. If he does happen to sport such a season (an all-star appearance might even be involved) then it raises a critical question for the organization: what to do with slugging first baseman Rhys Hoskins?

Drafted in the 5th round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft, Hoskins completed a statistically-salivating 2016 campaign, slashing .281/.377/.566 with 38 home runs and 116 RBI at Double-A Reading. The big Californian earned an invite to major league camp this year and figures to begin the 2017 season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Critical to Hoskins' development will be his ability to decrease his strikeout totals; he fanned 125 times in 498 plate appearances in 2016. It will be a tough challenge as he will be up against more talented pitching. Regardless, if Hoskins is able to put up another monster campaign like he did in 2016, it will be hard for the Phillies to ignore. In three minor league seasons at multiple levels, Hoskins compiled a .288 batting average, .372 OBP, and .516 slugging percentage with an OPS of .887. Equally impressive are his 64 home runs and 246 RBI. To put it bluntly, Hoskins has excelled offensively at every level, so it's not a stretch to think he'll excel at Triple-A. 

We've heard a lot about Joseph since 2012, and little about Hoskins until very recently, so it's understandable to assume that Joseph is significantly older than Hoskins. But Joseph is only 25 years old entering spring training while Hoskins is 23 (he turns 24 on March 17). This is a terrific problem to have if you're the Phillies, but unfortunately neither of these players can be hidden elsewhere in the field. Assuming both players have above average 2017 seasons at their respective levels, it seems safe to say that the club won't need to sign a free-agent first baseman in the near future, and an internal battle for first base could be the main conversation we have going into spring training 2018 or 2019. Everything I've said above are "what-if's" based on previous successes. But what seems to be clear is both Joseph and Hoskins will be the Phillies' best options to fill Ryan Howard's shoes in the coming future.