Rhys Hoskins a 'Long Shot' to Return to Phillies amid Elbow Injury Rehab

Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi confirmed to reporters Wednesday that first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who injured the UCL in his non-throwing arm on Sept. 12, is a "long shot" to play the rest of the season. 

Hoskins was hurt in a collision at first base during the team's 12-6 victory on the road against the Miami Marlins. He did not play the next day, so he could have been activated from the 10-day injured list Wednesday to finish out the final four games of the regular season.

At 27-29, Philadelphia is one game out of the last wild-card spot and 1.5 games out of the second-place spot in the National League East that is guaranteed a playoff berth.

Originally, Girardi wasn't ready to count out a return. 

"We're not ready to say that he's out for the year," Girardi told reporters Monday. "Our hope is that we'll get him back. Other guys have continued to hit through this. We basically have to see where he's at after a few days to see what's next for Rhys."

The Phillies are hopeful that Hoskins, who is second on the team in home runs and slugging percentage behind the also-injured J.T. Realmuto, will be able to factor into the final stretch of the regular season as a designated hitter at the least, according to The Athletic's Meghan Montemurro.

Girardi was unsure if the group would reach a decision on Tommy John surgery when Hoskins was evaluated by doctors last week. If Hoskins were to need to go under the knife, Girardi was hopeful that his recovery would not require as long an absence as it would if he were a pitcher, per the Daily Local News' Matthew DeGeorge.

After Los Angeles Angels pitcher/outfielder Shohei Ohtani underwent the procedure in October 2018, he was back at the plate in May. Similarly, Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres underwent surgery in June 2017 and was back to start the 2018 season. 

Hoskins has missed just nine games in his previous two seasons, and the fourth-year star was hitting .245/.384/.503 with 10 home runs and 26 runs batted in through 41 games in the shortened 2020 season. As someone who's never had to deal with a potential surgery, Hoskins told the Trentonian's Matt Smith he wasn't sure where he was in his recovery. 

"I've never had anything like this happen, so I'm not really sure what to look forward to in terms of the way it's supposed to feel," he said. "It was pretty sore (Sunday), but the soreness kind of let up as I got the treatment, so that's a good sign. Hopefully the soreness will keep subsiding and I'll get back in there."

Filling in for Hoskins, Alec Bohm impressed in his first major league start at first base Monday as the Phillies beat the Mets 4-1, closing out a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded and going 1-for-4 with a two-out single at the plate.

The Phillies signed first baseman Greg Bird, who played parts of four seasons with the Yankees before signing with the Rangers this offseason, to a minor league contract in time for him to be eligible for the postseason, and Jay Bruce and Phil Gosselin are also candidates to take over.