Phillies manager disagrees with Brewers 1B's prediction about return vs. former team

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins said in April that he thinks he'll get booed during his return to face the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park for the first time.

The time has come to see if the former longtime Phillies slugger's prediction will come true, as Philadelphia hosts Milwaukee in a three-game set beginning on Monday.

Ahead of the marquee matchup between first-place squads, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that he disagreed with Hoskins' prediction.

"Everybody here knows how important he is and all the things he's done for the community and all the things he's done for this ballclub," Thomson said. "When I came here in (2018), I came to Clearwater, he was the first player I met. ... I just can't say enough good things about him."

Philadelphia selected Hoskins in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft and he hit 148 regular-season home runs with the team over six seasons. Hoskins suffered a season-ending torn ACL during spring training last season.

The 31-year-old signed a two-year, $34M deal with Milwaukee on Jan. 26.

Hoskins had a career-high 145 hits during the 2022 campaign, adding 30 home runs, 79 RBI and a .246/.332/.462 slash line over 589 at-bats in 156 games played. He went just 11-for-69 during Philadelphia's run to the 2022 World Series but hit six home runs, including four in the NLCS against the San Diego Padres.

Hoskins has played in roughly two-thirds of Milwaukee's 2024 contests thus far (40 out of 59), splitting time as a first baseman and designated hitter. He's tied with shortstop Willy Adames for the team lead in home runs (nine) and is tied for third in RBI (27).