Matt Klentak, Phillies front office will have several logjams to address this offseason

The heavy lifting for 2017 is more or less complete, the final nail driven home on Thursday afternoon with the promotion of slugging first base prospect Rhys Hoskins from Triple A. The Phillies do not figure to be busy during the August waiver trade period, with reserve outfielder Daniel Nava the only potential candidate to be moved. What you see is what you are likely to get for most of the rest of the way.

This offseason, though, figures to be an interesting one, for reasons foreshadowed by Thursday's promotion of Hoskins. The Phillies seem to have known for much of the last couple of months that they would need to find a way to get Hoskins' bat to the majors, despite the capable contributions of 26-year-old Tommy Joseph at first base. An injury to outfielder Aaron Altherr turned out to be the unlikely opening. In the early months of the season, the Phillies did not seem to give much thought to the possibility of Hoskins moving to leftfield. But, general manager Matt Klentak said, things change. The Phillies needed an outfielder, Hoskins had a .966 OPS and 29 home runs in Lehigh Valley, and that was that.

But neither Klentak nor manager Pete Mackanin attempted to portray Hoskins' shift to leftfield as anything more than a short-term fix.

"Ultimately, Pete will decide day-to-day how he is going to do it and communicate that to the players, but I don't anticipate that Rhys Hoskins is here exclusively to be a leftfielder," Klentak said. "I think for the time being, that's where a lot of his at-bats will come. He will play some first base as well, and then at some point we're going to get Altherr back and we'll have to continue to figure that out . . ."

That's not the only figuring out Klentak and Mackanin will need to do. At some point next season, they will likely need to find a way to promote two of Hoskins former teammates at Triple A. Shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford has already played close to 200 games at Lehigh Valley, and he entered the week on a tear that has resurrected what had been a dismal season. In his last 60 games, the No. 16 pick in the 2013 draft was hitting .272 with a .381 on-base percentage, .531 slugging percentage and 12 home runs, lifting his season batting line to a respectable .233/.345/.405. His doubleplay partner at second base, 2015 second-round pick Scott Kingery, was hitting .300/.333/481 with six home runs in 160 at-bats since his promotion from Double A Reading, where he'd hit 18 home runs with a .987 OPS in 278 at-bats.

Neither player is forcing the Phillies hand the way Hoskins did with his season-long level of production: Kingery has struck out 38 times with just seven walks in 172 plate appearances after walking 28 times with 51 strikeouts in 317 plate appearances at Double A. Crawford's career line at Triple A is still just .238/.337/.364, including 17 home runs in 714 at-bats.

Still, the duo's arrival is imminent enough that it should serve as a defining variable in the Phillies' offseason plans. The complicating factor is that, like Joseph at first base, the Phillies currently have a couple of young middle infielders at the major league level who have made impressive strides over the past couple of seasons. At second base, Cesar Hernandez has improved upon his breakout 2016 campaign with a .293/.363/.420 batting line that has given the Phillies an above-league-average hitter at one of the spot's weaker-hitting positions. Freddy Galvis has established himself as one of the better defensive shortstops in the game, with good power for the position.

"For right now, what I prefer to do, is look at the contributions that Hernandez and Galvis have made to this club," Klentak said. "I know much has been made about Freddy's leadership and his style of play and his grittiness, and all that's true, and we love that about him, but what is also true is he's become a much improved player. His defense is incredible, and the fact that he can hit 20 homers not only in one year, but is on pace to do that again this year, is really making him a valuable major league player. And in Cesar's case, but he's hitting .290-something, which is right on par with what he did a year ago, his baserunning is better, and his defense is better. These guys are continuing to improve. They're both in their mid-20's, and in historic baseball aging curves, they're only now approaching their peak years. So as long as we see that kind of progress from players in the middle of the field like that, that's where we're going to keep our focus.

"Having too many middle infielders is a problem we'll gladly take, but I don't want to tell you that it's something we feel compelled to decide upon quickly. Right now we have two really good major league middle infielders, and that's a good place to be."

While Galvis will be eligible for free agency after next season, Hernandez is under club control through the 2020 season. Over the last two years, his 108 OPS+ ranks 10th out of 24 second basemen with at least 400 plate appearances, ahead of such names as Starlin Castro, Jason Kipnis, Jed Lowrie and Kolten Wong. In other words, he is an asset with significant value, not the kind of player you get rid of without a very good return. Remember, Hernandez's line over the last two big-league seasons is not that far off from the one Kingery has posted in his brief stint in Triple A.

There's an argument to be made that Hernandez has earned a spot in the Phillies' future plans. Bird in hand, and all. The exact nature of the Phillies' thinking is unclear. This offseason, they might have to reveal it.