Rhys Hoskins is pretty good at hitting baseballs. If you've been following along with the Philadelphia Phillies over the past few months, you've probably realized that. Yet you might not have realized just how great he's been.Since the start of June, Hoskins is slashing .278/.378/.559 with 18 home runs. After a Wednesdays game, his .937 OPS and 158 wRC+ both ranked sixth in the National League, behind five bonafide MVP contenders Tom Seaver Jersey : Paul Goldschmidt, Austin Riley, Nolan Arenado, Juan Soto, and Freddie Freeman.The Phillies first baseman also ranks third in Win Probability Added (WPA) since the start of June. WPA is an advanced metric from FanGraphs that calculates a player's total offensive contributions in context.So not only has Hoskins been a great hitter, but he has been a great hitter when it matters most.Hoskins started the season off slow, which is one reason why you might not have noticed how good he's been. He hit a meager .222 with a .708 OPS and 97 wRC+ over the first two months of the season, and it has taken him some time to overcome that poor start.He is also, famously, a streaky hitter, and his long slumps can make it hard to remember his hot streaks. Over 24 games from July 5 to August 3, Hoskins his .217 with a Mike Piazza Jersey .646 OPS and 81 wRC+, and his full-season OPS nearly dipped below .800 for the first time in several weeks. It was a hard stretch for Philadelphia's offense.Since then, of course, he is on another of his hot streaks, hitting Jose Reyes Jersey .304 with 6 home runs over his last 13 games. The Phillies have won 9 of those 13 contests.Despite his slow start and the occasional cold stretches, Hoskins is still a very valuable player. His overall 2022 numbers arepretty darn impre sive, and they rank among those of the best hitters in the league.The 29-year-old ranks seventh in the NL in home runs and ninth in OPS. He is tenth in wOBA, twelfth in WPA, and thirteenth in wRC+.Scroll to ContinueTo give those numbers a little more context, in 2021 it was Austin Riley who ranked tenth in wOBA, Trea Turner who ranked twelfth in WPA, and Freddie Freeman who ranked thirteenth in wRC+. Each of those players finished in the top ten in MVP voting that season.It is also important to keep in mind how durable Hoskins has been this year. He has played in all but one of Philadelphia's 117 games.As such, while he has very similar offensive numbers to players like Willson Contreras and Bryan Reynolds, he has actual been able to provide much more offensive value to his team, simply by playing more games.According to Weighted Runs Created (wRC), a counting stat that measures a player's total offensive value throughout the year, Hoskins has been the ninth most valuable hitter in the NL. Everyone ahead Tug McGraw Jersey of him was an All-Star this season.With 78 wRC in 116 games, Hoskins is on pace for 108 wRC if he plays all 45 remaining games. Last season, all eight NL hitters who finished with 108 wRC or higher received MVP votes.Long story short, Hoskins has been one of the best hitters in baseball this year. With his strong offensive numbers, he is in the company of All-Stars, Silver Sluggers, and perennial MVP contenders.The Phillies first baseman may not be an MVP candidate himself, but he's starting to keep company with the very best the game has to offer.And who knows? If Hoskins keeps up this level of production, it's not completely crazy to suggest he could wind up with a down-ballot MVP vote of his very own.More Steven Matz Jersey From SI's Inside The Phillies:
Zoeken
Sponsor
Sponsor