Phillies Manager Joe Girardi On Rhys Hoskins Injury: 'We Just Have To Keep Our Fingers Crossed For Rhys'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)- The Phillies rough patch got even worse late Monday night when the team indicated that slugger Rhys Hoskins will be placed on the 10-day injured list today after suffering an injury to his left ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). The news means that the team will be without its hottest hitter until at least September 23 and possibly longer depending on how the injury responds while Hoskins is on the IL.
Appearing on Sirius XM MLB Network Radio on Tuesday, manager Joe Girardi expressed some hope that Hoskins might be able to follow in the footsteps of Los Angeles Angels DH Shohei Ohtani, who played through a similar injury in 2018.
"I think Shohei Ohtani played with the injury to the UCL. He was able to hit with the injury to the lead arm and he continued to hit pretty well," said Girardi. "We just have to keep our fingers crossed for Rhys."
Based on what other players have gone through, Joe Girardi is hopeful that Rhys Hoskins can return soon. @Phillies | #Phillies | #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/2hPMlOGGXk
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) September 15, 2020
While there is the possibility that Hoskins could return this season, Girardi did say that the team is still waiting for more information on how the injury will be treated. He did not rule out the possibility that Hoskins could have to undergo surgery.
"I still don't know," said Girardi. "They're still doing more testing I believe to determine what is the course of action for it once we get beyond finding out if he can play."
Hoskins has been one of the bright spots for the team in the recent stretch, slugging eight homers since August 23 and bringing in 19 of his 26 RBI on the season during that run. Now, he'll head to the IL where he joins pitcher Spencer Howard and outfielder Jay Bruce. Catcher J.T. Realmuto remains out of the lineup after suffering a hip injury in Saturday's win over the Marlins.
Now sitting at 23-23 after Monday night's game, the Phillies have 14 games scheduled over the next 12 days to finish out the season. They are currently a half-game up on the San Francisco Giants for the first Wild Card spot.