Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins is making up for lost time at first base

CLEARWATER, Fla. — From the time the Phillies drafted him in 2014 until he made his major-league debut three years later, Rhys Hoskins played 455 games in the minors. And for 452 of them, he was a first baseman.

Cue the adage about riding a bike, right?

“You would think so, but not really,” Hoskins said Thursday about returning to his natural position after one year in left field. “Really, the only substitute to getting that feeling back is feeling it in the game.”

Hoskins is finally starting to feel like a first baseman again, but it has taken some time. A lot of work, too.

The day usually begins at 7:30 a.m., as new Phillies coach Bobby Dickerson puts the infielders through drills. Glove action. Angles off the bat. Glove presentation. Picks in the dirt. Dickerson has covered it all with Hoskins because, well, it all needed to be covered.

“Being in left field for a year — a year at this level — it’s a lot of stress on a guy trying to learn a position like that,” Dickerson said. “A lot of the things that he might’ve been doing in the minor leagues almost got forgotten because he put so much focus and emphasis on trying to be a left fielder.”

Hoskins definitely tried. Once the Phillies signed free agent Carlos Santana before last season, Hoskins committed to learning a new position, putting in extra work in spring training and during the season.

But he never felt comfortable and it showed. With minus-24 defensive runs saved, Hoskins ranked as the third-worst player at any position, better than only Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar (minus-25) and Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon (minus-28). The Phillies were the worst defensive team in baseball, and their road to improvement began with the decision to include Santana in a trade with the Mariners for shortstop Jean Segura and move Hoskins back to first base.

“I would go home at night and be frustrated just because, as baseball players, we’re perfectionists,” Hoskins said of the left-field experience. “When you feel like you’re not as good as you can be at something or that you’re hurting your team, it’s not a good feeling. I’m looking forward to hopefully not feeling that way.”

It helps, Hoskins said, to have Dickerson around.

They met three offseasons ago. After a big season in double A, Hoskins went to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball for a team managed by Dickerson, then a well-regarded coach with the Orioles. And they quickly formed a bond. When Hoskins struggled at the plate, it was Dickerson who got him through it.

“He was the big guy, came off a lot of home runs that year in double A, and he was going to carry us,” Dickerson said. “That’s the major leagues in winter ball. In their country, it’s like being in Philly. The stress level for him was wanting to do well, produce for the fans, and he was struggling trying to carry the club. He actually came to me in my office, and we talked about taking a couple line drives to right field, letting the ball get deep. I think it was nice for him having someone he could talk to and stuff.”

When Hoskins found out in January that the Phillies were hiring Dickerson to replace Jose Flores, who took a job with the Orioles, Hoskins was thrilled. And it wasn’t because Dickerson is Manny Machado’s longtime mentor. Hoskins called Dickerson and delivered one message: “I told him I wanted to work.”

“I felt like I was a little bit behind, just because I had been in the outfield last year," Hoskins said. "I felt like I had some time to make up, and he was all about it.”

When Hoskins reported to camp, Dickerson thought he still moved like an outfielder. His feet were “heavy,” Dickerson said, his first step slow.

“It’s getting better. It’s happening quicker,” Dickerson said. “I see it. There’s a constant improvement every day from the first day we went to work.”

The presumption when the Phillies moved Hoskins back to first base was that it would enable him to concentrate more on his offense. He led the team last season with 34 homers and a .496 slugging percentage but also was prone to inconsistency. If he didn’t have to worry about learning left field, perhaps he could better avoid those lengthy slumps.

But Hoskins is taking his new old position seriously. Even at first base, he was never regarded as an above-average defender. He feels an obligation, though, to his fellow infielders to be better than before. He has even asked newcomers Sean Rodriguez and Andrew Romine for feedback on how he can improve.

“I always like to ask the guys what they like to look at when they’re throwing,” Hoskins said. “Making sure we’re communicating a whole lot and that we’re on the same page before every pitch is something that they’ve stressed, and it’s been helpful. I want to make the guys in the infield comfortable throwing to me. The work that they see that I’m doing is only going to contribute to that.”

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