Phillies honor Bobby Abreu with place on the Wall of Fame

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Bobby Abreu joins the immortals on the Phillies Wall of Fame

The Phillies are honoring 1998-2006 outfielder Bobby Abreu prior to the game on Saturday night against the Chicago White Sox by enshrining him on the franchise Wall of Fame.

In a special pre-game ceremony, numerous past Wall of Fame honorees are expected to be on hand, including the franchise’ all-time greatest player, Mike Schmidt.

Abreu played in parts of nine seasons with the Phillies from 1998-2006. He is currently 2nd in walks, 4th in doubles, 7th in extra-base hits and stolen bases, 10th in runs scored, 11th in home runs and RBIs, and 14th in hits on the Phillies all-time leader boards.

His .303 career batting average across 1,353 games with the Phillies is the second-highest of any player who has performed with the team over more than half a century, trailing only the .309 mark produced by fellow Wall of Famer John Kruk. His .416 on-base percentage is the fourth-best of any player during their Phillies career, and Abreu’s .928 career OPS with the Phillies is second in franchise history only to the great Hall of Famer and Wall of Famer, Chuck Klein.

Abreu is a native of Venezuela who was signed by the Houston Astros as a 16-year-old amateur free agent in August 1990. He received his first big-league promotion for a 15-game cup of coffee in September 1996.

He appeared twice against the Phillies that month, lining out to center fielder Ricky Otero as a pinch-hitter for Billy Wagner in a 10-8 Phillies victory at the Astrodome on September 11 in his first game against them.

In 1997, Abreu made the team out of spring training, and stayed with Houston through May. He returned for five games in July, and then was called up again in September, appearing in another 14 games. Against the Phillies he went 4-17 with two runs and two RBIs over five games. He would also pinch-hit, going 1-3, in all three games of the Astros sweept at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

Abreu as a 24-year-old in his first season with the Phillies in 1998.(Roger H. Rangel)

That fall, Major League Baseball expanded to include a pair of new teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now just “Rays”) and an Expansion Draft was held. Abreu, left unprotected by the Astros, became the sixth player chosen overall, the third by Tampa Bay.

Abreu would never play a single game with those original Devil Rays. In fact, he would never get to the Sunshine State at all. On the same day that he was selected in that draft process, the Phillies traded away shortstop Kevin Stocker to acquire Abreu from Tampa.

Young star Rhys Hoskins needs to emerge quickly from recent slump

Hoskins has disappeared over the last two weeks

He wasn’t selected to play in the actual MLB All-Star Game this year. But as one of baseball’s most exciting young sluggers, Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins was invited to participate in the Home Run Derby the day prior to that game at Nationals Park.

Hoskins put on a strong showing, beating top-seeded Jesus Aguilar in his opening round match-up by a 17-12 margin. In the semi-finals, Hoskins was even more impressive, blasting 20 homers. However, he was knocked out when Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber got hot at the end and put up 21 of his own.

There were some who worried that Hoskins might have problems with his swing following that performance. Those concerns seemed to be completely alleviated when the 25-year-old ripped eight home runs in his first 13 games following the break. His slash line of .346/.452/.923 over 62 plate appearances during that span seemed to portend a big second half.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Not only has Hoskins cooled off since the calendar turned to August, he has virtually disappeared. Over his last eight games, Hoskins is slashing .037/.212/.037 and has not homered or driven in a run.

The Phillies dropped four of six games at Arizona and San Diego last week. Hoskins went 1-21 during the losing trip that saw the club lose their month-long grip on first place in the NL East race.

Since the team scored just 15 total runs over those half-dozen games, the blame for losing can’t rest solely on Hoskins’ shoulders. But the fact remains that the young star is the most dynamic offensive player in the current lineup. They need him to produce in order to win consistently.

Hoskins got engaged on the beach right in the middle of the trip, prior to the first game in San Diego. You don’t do something like that on the spur of the moment. There had to be some planning involved on his part. Could the anticipation of such an extremely significant personal moment have been distracting in any way?

Rhys Hoskins

✔@rhyshoskins

8/9/18

Fooled her long enough, cheers Jayme

3:45 PM - Aug 10, 2018 · San Diego, CA

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With 45 games remaining in the 2018 regular season, Hoskins is on pace for roughly 31 homers and 101 RBI. Especially considering that he missed nearly two weeks earlier this season, and factoring in the poor offensive performances surrounding him in the lineup, that’s a pretty strong sophomore campaign for the player who finished fourth in last year’s NL Rookie of the Year voting.

But Hoskins numbers are mostly down across the board from a year ago. Last season he slashed .259/.396/.618, and in 2018 he has produced a .253/.365/.492 slash to this point. His OPS is down from 1.014 a year ago to its current .858 mark. Hoskins produced 2.0 WAR a year ago and has 0.8 WAR in the 2018 campaign.

Rhys Hoskins crashes the Home Run Derby

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Hoskins will try to put on a power show at the 2018 Home Run Derby 

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday night July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

That night, most of the very best players from the National and American Leagues will square off in an exhibition to celebrate our National Pastime.

As has been the case for more than three decades now, the night prior to the All-Star Game will feature a Home Run Derby, pitting some of today's top hitters in what is always a fun and spirited contest.

Earlier this week, MLB announced the eight participants in this year's event. For the first time in this decade, that contest will include a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

25-year old left fielder Rhys Hoskins was selected, becoming the first Phillies player to take part since Ryan Howard back in 2009. He also becomes just the fifth Phillies player to participate in this 34th year that the showcase has taken place.

Hoskins has been matched up in the first round with slugging first baseman Jesus Aguilar of the Milwaukee Brewers. Currently tied for the National League lead with 23 home runs, the 28-year old Aguilar was installed as the top seed in the event.

The winner of the Hoskins-Aguilar duel will take on the winner of a battle between Alex Bregman of the world champion Houston Astros and Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs. That winner would then advance to the Finals, where they would take on the survivor from a second bracket.

That bracket will have Washington Nationals pending free agent Bryce Harper, who will certainly by a sentimental hometown choice, taking on Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves in one match-up.


The other will find another Cubs player, the exciting Javier Baez, taking on Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who seemed to emerge from nowhere to become a big power threat this season.

Hoskins' 14 homers place him just 25th in the National League to this point in the season. However, he also missed about 10 days back in early June after breaking his jaw on a fluke swing back on May 29.

He came off the DL hot, blasting eight home runs from June 9 to the end of the month. But Hoskins is right now in the midst of a dry spell. After being held in the yard last night at Citi Field, he has not homered now over his last 11 games.

So, what are the odds that Hoskins can get past the slugging Aguilar, the Bregman-Schwarber winner, and then defeat the winner of the other bracket to become this year's Home Run Derby champion?

While MLB has him slotted in as the eighth seed, the folks who set the odds for Bovada in Las Vegas are a bit more bullish on his chances. Hoskins is currently rated as the fourth-best choice, tied with Baez, right in the middle of the field.

Harper is the favorite at +300 , which is not at all a surprise. Unfortunately, Hoskins opens with the current second-choice of the oddsmakers, with Aguilar at +375. Schwarber is at +500, followed closely by Hoskins and Baez each at +550. Muncy is at +600, Freeman +650, and Bregman pulls up the rear at +950.

The Home Run Derby dates to the 1985 MLB All-Star festivities. However, the Phillies all-time home run leader and one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history, Mike Schmidt, never participated.

That was despite the fact that Schmidt was an NL All-Star in both 1986 and 1987. He led the NL in long balls in '86 and was both the NL MVP and Silver Slugger winner at third base that year.

The first Phillies player to participate was Jim Thome in 2004. The Hall of Famer-to-be was knocked out in the first round after slamming just four over the fence at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

The following year, Bobby Abreu fared much better. The Phillies outfielder set a record with 24 first round bombs enroute to 41 total homers. He defeated Miguel Tejada by 11-5 in the 2005 finals at Comerica Park in Detroit.

It was just one year later that the Phillies got their second Home Run Derby winner. Howard barely survived the first round that year. But 'The Big Piece' then exploded for 28 homers over the next two rounds. In the finals, the Phillies rookie edged out David Wright by 5-4 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Howard and Chase Utley took turns getting knocked out in the first round at the 2007 and 2008 events in succession. In the 2009 appearance at Busch Stadium in his hometown of Saint Louis, Howard fell just one homer short of reaching the finals.

Cody Bellinger hits for The Cycle to continue special rookie season

On Saturday night at Marlins Park in Miami, Los Angeles Dodgers rookie sensation Cody Bellinger put on a record-setting show.

Bellinger went 4-5, scored twice, and knocked in three runs to help pace the torrid, first place Dodgers to a 7-1 thrashing of the host Miami Marlins.

His night began with a single in the top of the first inning. In the top of the third, Bellinger’s 26th home run of the season opened the scoring, putting LA on top 2-0.

In the top of the fourth, Bellinger lined an RBI double to right field that upped the visitors lead to 6-0. Then in the seventh, he made history.

On the first offering from Marlins reliever Nick Wittgren, Bellinger ripped a ball to right that sailed over the head of Giancarlo Stanton. As the ball rolled to the wall, Bellinger raced around the bases, sliding into third easily ahead of the throw.

With that triple, Bellinger became the first rookie in the long and storied history of Dodgers baseball to hit for ‘The Cycle’ with a single, double, triple, and home run all in the same game.

“Every time he steps on the field,” manager Dave Roberts said per Andy McCullough of the LA Times, “something special can happen.”

Phillies History in the MLB Home Run Derby

The MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby has been around since 1985, which means that the greatest home run hitter in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise had an opportunity to participate.

However, Mike Schmidt never took the game up on that opportunity. This despite Schmidt being an NL All-Star in 1986-87 and even elected to the team in the year in which he retired of 1989.

It's not as if Schmidt was coasting out of his career in those years either. 

At age 35 in 1985, the only year in a nine-season stretch in which Schmidt did not make the team for the midsummer classic, he banged 33 home runs.

Then in 1986, Schmidt won the 3rd of his career NL MVP Awards while blasting an MLB-high 37 home runs. He would rip another 35 the following year.

But in that first-ever MLB Home Run Derby in 1985 at The Metrodome in Minnesota, it was Dave Parker, Dale Murphy, Steve Garvey, Ryne Sandberg, and Jack Clark highlighting the proceedings.

In 1986, it was Parker, Darryl Strawberry, and Hubie Brooks for the NL in a scaled-back affair. In 1987, Andre Dawson and Ozzie Virgil, of all people, repped the senior circuit. 

There was no Home Run Derby held at Riverfront Stadium in 1988