Phillies: Tough questions for September and not much later
By Rick Soisson
What should the Philadelphia Phillies do with Hoskins and Kingery?
Both Hoskins and Kingery have been considered by Philly fans and team management to be essential foundational Phillies since at least 2017. Kingery was given a pricey, multi-year contract by the team before he ever played a major league inning, and Hoskins had one of the most impressive power months in MLB history in ’17 as a total newbie.
Three years later the question is whether either or both should be traded, benched, or moved into another role.
For Hoskins, this last suggestion means: to DH; for Kingery, back to a utility role. These are questions for possible quick action in September. Bottalico declared Aug. 25 that rookie Alec Bohm could replace Hoskins at first sooner than later.
This would also cure the developing problem of low rockets getting by Bohm at third base.
For his part, Kingery seemed to turn around with a circus catch against Atlanta on Aug. 21. Up to that point, the alleged infielder had seemed lost on the field physically, both at second base and at the plate. On the other hand, he made his catch in center field, one of his utility positions.
Going into play Sept. 1, Kingery is hitting .127. In his last ten games, he has collected five hits; his RBI total for the season is four.
Elsewhere, in terms of Phillies position players, things don’t seem totally awful. Most notably, Realmuto and Bryce Harper are both having MVP campaigns. Andrew McCutchen suddenly began hitting Aug. 14.
And yes, it very much seems that either Kingery, or Hoskins, or both could have been part of the solution to the struggling bullpen/starter via a trade or trades. While the addition of Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman hasn’t made things worse, “relief” is not something the Phillies bullpen automatically provides.
On Aug. 12 Philly relievers had the MLB-worst ERA at 10.19, and while Hembree and Workman are now contributing ERAs of 6.43 and 4.85, respectively, in 13 total game appearances between them, about all that can be said about them is that those two figures are at least under ten.
Workman’s first two saves, in fact, required sterling defensive efforts on the parts of his center fielder, shortstop, and catcher in one case and by his catcher in the other.