The Mets can’t stand the former Phillies slugger.
The Philadelphia Phillies, where Rhys Hoskins played for six years as a fan favorite, severed ways with him this offseason. Hoskins decided to accept a $34 million, two-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. However, Rhys Hoskins was unable to break old behaviors with his new clothing. He is still a pain in the side for the New York Mets, the erstwhile division rivals.
This weekend’s matchup between the Mets and Brewers marked the start of the 2024 season for both teams. Opening Day began with Rhys Hoskins undercutting New York infielder Jeff McNeil to slide into second base, setting off fireworks. Hoskins’ slide infuriated McNeil, who screamed at the slugger on his way back to the dugout. In response, Hoskins gave McNeil a sobbing face signal, which sparked the season’s first bench-clearing confrontation.
Showers after the game didn’t seem to help as both sides continued to pick apart each other in press conferences. Rhys Hoskins has a history of dubious second-base slides, according to McNeil, who also accused Hoskins of attempting “to put a spike into someone’s leg.” Hoskins justified himself by claiming that he was merely attempting to play baseball and that if “certain someone” had a problem with his sliding, it was out of his control.
The wonderful thing about baseball is that after an incident like this, most of the time everyone has to suit up and play one other again right after. That was the case on Saturday when the Mets and Brewers began play in the early afternoon as part of their three-game series. Rhys Hoskins did not take long to remind New York just how much of a pain he truly is.
In the top of the first, the slugger had the opportunity to cause some early damage. That’s what he did, hitting a two-run single to left field. When Rhys Hoskins returned to the batter’s box the following time, Milwaukee had a player on base and was up, 4-0. He increased his team’s lead with a home run and ended the day with four RBIs. After a balk two innings later, Hoskins would touch home. That seemed to be the breaking point for New York, as they trailed 6-2 in the top of the seventh inning. Yohan RamÃrez, a reliever for the Mets, was ejected as a result.
After missing the entirety of 2023 due to a knee injury, Rhys Hoskins is off to a scorching start in 2024. To the Mets’ great dismay. While in the NL East, Hoskins wasn’t particularly dominating versus New York, but he has occasionally made the team uncomfortable. Most notably, in 2019 after hitting a home run off Mets reliever Jacob Rhame, Hoskins took a full 30 seconds to round the circle since Rhame had thrown at his head the night before.
As they say, things change more and yet remain much the same. Even though Rhys Hoskins is no longer in the NL East and is sporting a new uniform, the Mets still don’t like him. This weekend, if Hoskins continues to produce at his current pace, New York supporters won’t have any cause to reconsider.
