Let’s Write About The Good Things
By Connor Thomas
This past Saturday, after committing an error that played a large part in costing the Phillies a game against the New York Mets, Rhys Hoskins met with the media. As anyone could imagine, he wasn’t in the best mood in the world. However it wasn’t his defensive ineptitude that drew his criticism postgame. Instead, Hoskins decided to turn his disdain towards the media, urging them to “write about the really good things too”. Here is his full comment aimed towards the media following the 1 run loss to the Mets:
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2021Here’s how Rhys Hoskins addressed reporters after today’s game. pic.twitter.com/eN1zD0Kmqu
— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo)
Here’s how Rhys Hoskins addressed reporters after today’s game. pic.twitter.com/eN1zD0Kmqu
— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) June 27, 2021
And honestly, Rhys is right. I think we’re being way too critical of the 4th place, 36-39 Philadelphia Phillies. So with that in mind, I’m here to do what the rest of the Philadelphia sports media refuses to do: writing about the good things.
Good thing #1: Rhys Hoskins isn’t the worst defensive player in the NL
Hoskins is correct, there is still something positive to focus on when it comes to his defense. Believe it or not, he’s actually NOT the worst fielder in the National League! A huge accomplishment, his trophy will be in the mail later this week. The title of the worst defensive player in the NL actually belongs to his teammate Alec Bohm, so maybe Hoskins will buy him a nice steak dinner for making sure that his defense doesn’t look as awful as it actually has been this year.
Good thing #2: The Phillies aren’t in last place in the NL East
The Phillies are actually in 4th place in the NL East, right above the 33-44 Miami Marlins (that is until the Phillies play the Marlins again and inevitably lose the series). They’re also only 8.5 games out of the last NL Wild Card spot so one 14 game winning streak and they’ll be right back in playoff position! If 10 or 20 things break the Phillies way we could very easily be looking at October baseball again in Philadelphia. It’s easy to see why Hoskins doesn’t want anyone to count the Phillies out.
Good thing #3: Hector Neris is very close to setting an all-time Phillies record
Neris, who has largely handled the Phillies’ closing duties so far this season, is on the verge of a spectacular franchise record. He is just one blown save away from tying Ryan Madson for the most in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies! It’ll be an enormous achievement considering Madson blew 26 saves during his time with the Phils, but Hector has already notched 25 blown saves, 6 of those coming this year. For some closers, a blown save is a rarity, so you might think it would take a little bit of time for Neris to compile the 2 remaining blown saves needed to capture the all-time Phillies record, but this man is not your average closer. He’s had 17 save opportunities so far this year, and by blowing 6 of them, he has a blown saved percentage of over 35%. When you’re blowing every 3rd save opportunity, it makes it really easy to pile them up quickly. With any luck, Neris will take that crown at some point this year.
There’s so many more good things that I could highlight here, but I can’t waste all of the positive points in one article. Plus, good things come in threes right? Or is the expression that bad things come in threes, like celebrity deaths and Rhys Hoskins errors? Guess it depends on who you ask. Either way, hopefully Rhys is happy that everyone isn’t forgetting to write about the really good things too.
