Bottalico: Hoskins Is Just Waiting For The Ball To Come To Him

After Rhys Hoskins had his surprising performance at the 2018 Home Run Derby with 37 Homers, there were concerns about Hoskins post-All-Star break since previous Phillies struggled after their Home Run Derby participation.  Before 2018, the Phillies who participated in the Home Run Derby who struggled post-All-Star Break included Jim Thome (.253 Batting Average with 14 Home Runs), Bobby Abreu (.260 BA with 6 Home Runs), and Chase Utley (8 Home Runs and 35 RBI in 65 games).  The only Phillies slugger who previously played well after Derby participation was Ryan Howard who after three appearances averaged 26.3 Home Runs and 73.7 RBI along with a .313 Batting Average.  Hoskins appears to be following the Howard example as Rhys in seven games has Six Home Runs, 11 RBI, and a .345 Batting Average since the Home Run Derby.

NBC Sports Philadelphia Phillies Analyst Ricky Bottalico joined The Sports Bash on Thursday and talked about why Hoskins is hitting so well since he participated in the 2018 Home Run Derby:

"(Hoskins is) no dummy, he knows that with his regular swing he can hit the ball out of the ballpark. He wasn’t trying to go 500 feet (In Home Run Derby)....Rhys just took it like it was extra batting practice he was getting and I think it actually worked in a positive way for him. He comes back now and he’s hitting the ball hard to right center field - Somebody must have gotten in his ear, because of all those swings, if you were over swinging, the one thing you wanna do is try to hit the ball back up the middle right; That’s what he’s been doing. But if you’re missing on the inner half, where’s the ball gonna go out? Left Field. He’s just waiting for the ball to come to him. He has a very simple fix to me for when he goes into a slump and I think he’s actually proved that in his short time in the big leagues."

Checkout what Bottalico had to say about Phillies Catcher Situation, team needs ahead of MLB Trade Deadline, and more