Honestly, I don't understand this talk about bringing in a first baseman to platoon with Joseph It simply makes no sense and to me is borderline foolishness. My gosh, we traded Hunter Pence for the guy, waited oft times impatiently for someone to give us hope that we could gracefully say good by to Howard, and then saw him hit 20+ home runs in limited at bats, play a decent first base and even more impressive, display the ability to learn and adapt as the season wore on when it came to taking walks etc.
Truth be told, he is hitting just as both the Giants [who drafted him] and the Phillies always envisioned him hitting. This was no 15th round guy that came out of nowhere, this was a guy who the Giants at one time thought would move Buster Posey to first base he was so skilled.
All Joseph ever needed was good health, he always had the hit tool. And its not like the Phils don't have a few guys of their on waiting in the wings....Stassi and Hoskins are both guys who have proven in the minors they can hit and at some point will have the opportunity to show if they can hit in the majors.
If Tommy Joseph can build on his rookie year the Phils are suddenly in a very enviable position in regards to first base, lets see if he can. If he can't then the Phils move to option B...either Stassi or Hoskins.
One more thing. Good gracious, it seems as if almost every Phillie power hitting minor league outfielder [Cozens, Ortiz, 1-2 others] has been mentioned as at some point probably moving to first base. My take...the Phils have plenty of first base candidates in house.