Philadelphia Phillies: What to make of Rhys Hoskins’ lineup “demotion”

Prior to the Philadelphia Phillies Sunday night game against the Atlanta Braves, a rather intriguing lineup was released by Joe Girardi and the Phils.

Rhys Hoskins, coming off a scheduled off day, had been moved down to 7th in the batting order, with Jean Segura taking his spot in the two-hole. A rather minuscule move in the grand scheme of things when you consider all of the more pressing issues that the Phillies are currently facing, but a roster move that rallied up the fanbase nevertheless.

Before even diving into Hoskins and what may have sparked such a lineup “demotion,” it’s worth mentioning just how good Segura has been hitting the baseball this season. The veteran infielder is batting .384 with a .923 OPS this season, and didn’t appear to miss a beat following a brief stint away from the team due to injury.

Segura went 8-13 with 11 total bases this past weekend against Atlanta – the guy is locked in.

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While losing two-hole privileges to someone batting .300+ isn’t anything to scoff at, it’s still extremely likely that Hoskins’ recent struggles played a role in Girardi’s decision to bump him down in the order.

Over his past 30 games Hoskins is hitting .211 with a .268 OBP, and over his past 15 games he’s batting .189 with a .259 OBP. Even for Hoskins’ standards – a player who is known for being extremely streaky – these aren’t numbers that a manager can justify keeping towards the top of the lineup. Hoskins inability to consistently get on base (combined with a sluggish start to the season from McCutchen) has left Bryce Harper in a position where he’s seen just 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Considering the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies are paying Harper $20+ million this season to drive in runs, that’s a seriously alarming statistic. The Phils’ offense is at its best when Harper is getting as many RBI chances as humanly possible, something that this year’s lineup hasn’t been able to do on a consistent basis.

What should Philadelphia Phillies fans make of Rhys Hoskins’ lineup demotion?

Some were quick to point out that Hoskins bump down in the lineup was more so a reflection of how “deep” the Phillies lineup is at the moment, and less so a case of Hoskins being relegated due to bad performance. While again there’s a point to be made that Segura is playing out of his mind at the moment, that type of logic doesn’t explain why Hoskins was moved below both Alec Bohm and Didi Gregorius – two players who are struggling at the plate in their own regards.

Ultimately speaking, the decision to bump Hoskins down is a combination of a few things, and likely what’s best for Hoskins moving forward in his MLB career. He still ranks rather highly in terms of average exit velocity, hard hit %, and batted ball % – he just isn’t finding ways to consistently get on base.

Allowing him to operate in a more “stress free” role deeper in the lineup lets him continue to swing for the fences without worrying about getting on base for Harper/Realmuto, which is where he’s most effective as a player.

If Hoskins starts to heat up over the following weeks, don’t be shocked if Girardi bumps him back up in the lineup, but in the meantime, I’d expect him to continue batting 7th.

Full disclosure though I’m writing this at 1 AM on Tuesday, so he could very well be batting cleanup later today against the Nationals for all I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯