Rhys Hoskins

[allentown]

There was an absolute ton of discussion on the bash brothers' record-setting Reading season last year and an extended debate about whether Hoskins or Cozens would have the better MLB career and whether being a RH 1B could doom Hoskins. We debated the Reading effect long and hard. It looks like Hoskins performance has ended those debates. As is almost always the case with Reading bashers, performance at Allentown gave the answer and his first month in Philly put the cherry on top. I've not given up on Cozens. His BA stinks, but he does have 26 HRs and has snuck his OBA above ..300, despite that awful BA. Like Crawford, he just may need a bit more AAA time.

[Austinfan]

The best way to check on the Reading effect is to look at home/road splits.
Hoskins had a .853 OPS on the road.
Which is why Pullin is so puzzling, he had a great road OPS at Reading, but has really struggled in Lehigh.
Cozens was going to take a couple years, if ever, he had a mediocre road OPS at Reading and struggled against LH pitching.

[andyb]

Small sample size and making too much of it.

The reality is that Hoskins becoming a prospect even looking at his first couple of years in the system is rare. Right handed unathletic first basemen just have no room for an error and there is a reason no publication considered Hoskins a top 100 prospect until midseason this year. Even in your beloved Reading road splits 853 for a 1B prospect not young for the level is just not that impressive. The whole Eastern League is a decent hitting league in general.

Hoskins got better this year in AAA and the majors. That was unanticipated from his past. We should celebrate that and hope that the 2nd time around the league does not expose him some.

[nycphils]

We should celebrate that and hope that the 2nd time around the league does not expose him some.

I'm sure it will, but let's keep in mind even being league average for a 1B - I'd guess that's somewhere around .850 ops but don't really know - would be a huge improvement for this team. If he Can have an OPS over .900 he's a budding star.

[bkox]

IronPigs (IronPigs)

[Philsmania]

IronPigs (IronPigs)

Not that it's going to matter that much in the grand scheme of things but with 71 ML at-bats already, Hoskins is almost certain to pass the 130 AB threshold which will use up his rookie eligibility and eliminate him as a possible ROTY candidate for 2018. Perhaps with his prodigious start, he'll still get a respectable number of NL ROTY votes this year.