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Joseph Santoliquito: As Rhys Hoskins Mends, Phils Can Get A Glimpse Of The Future

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — After one of the wackiest plays ever in Major League Baseball, Rhys Hoskins wound up on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with a fractured jaw, after hitting himself in the face with a foul ball Monday night in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The move couldn't come at a better stretch for the Phillies.

Hoskins could use some down time, after going 14-for-87 at the plate in May (.161 average), and after going 27-for-89 in March/April (.303). He is hitting .233 with six home runs and 28 RBIs this season.

Rhys Hoskins
Credit: CBS3

With Hoskins temporarily shelved, this gives Phillies manager Gabe Kapler a chance to see what an outfield of Nick Williams, Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr looks like, and a chance to see what outfielder Dylan Cozens, the call-up to replace Hoskins, can do. Williams, Herrera and Altherr combined to go 2-for-13 against the Dodgers in the Phils' 8-2 on Wednesday night.

Williams, Herrera and Altherr is the outfield of the future for the Phils, with Hoskins most likely playing first base.

Cozens is the bigger curiosity. At Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Cozens was hitting .226 (38-for-168), and second in the International League with 10 home runs in 50 games. He has 6 doubles, 25 RBIs, and his 25 walks are fourth in the International League.

So while Hoskins mends, giving him time to heal and his mind time to unwind and stop pressing, the Phillies, 30-23, and very much alive in June, have time to see what's ahead, and during an important stretch of their schedule.

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