Phillies’ Bryce Harper to become full-time first baseman, Rhys Hoskins likely to depart in free agency

Philadelphia Phillies government Dave Dombrowski informed newshounds on Wednesday that Bryce Harper will proceed on because the membership’s on a regular basis first baseman, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Dombrowski, talking at the yearly common managers conferences, added that the Phillies are shut to set from a place participant’s point of view.

“He’s happy to do whatever we wanted him to do,” Dombrowski told reporters. “He said he’d play first or the outfield. He feels great. But the more we talked about it internally, we liked the idea of playing him at first.”

Harper, 31, has now not performed the outfield since injuring his elbow early throughout the 2022 season. He underwent Tommy John surgical operation that iciness, and used to be limited to serving because the Phillies’ designated hitter till July 21, when he made his first profession look on the chilly nook. Harper would make 36 overall appearances at first base during the finish of the common season. 

Overall, Harper batted .293/.401/.499 (146 OPS+) with 21 house runs, 72 RBI, and three.7 Wins Above Replacement in 126 contests. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric had Harper plus-three in a small pattern at first base.

Of direction, Harper’s everlasting transfer to first base does not simply affect him. It additionally makes it not going that the Phillies discover a explanation why to deliver again free-agent slugger Rhys Hoskins, who neglected the 2023 season after tearing his ACL in spring coaching. CBS Sports not too long ago ranked Hoskins because the thirteenth easiest free agent to be had this iciness. Here’s what we wrote on the time:

Hoskins neglected the season after tearing his ACL in March. Unfortunately, he used to be already dealing with a dicey free agent marketplace earlier than the damage. For as excellent as Hoskins is, and he is accrued a 120 OPS+ or higher in 5 of his six seasons, he is a right-right first baseman at the stormy aspect of 30. Teams don’t need to glance additional than José Abreu to see how temporarily that profile can crater. (To be truthful, Abreu is/used to be considerably older than Hoskins.) Between the damage and the marketplace’s tepidness for the kind, Hoskins would appear to be an affordable candidate to settle for a qualifying be offering. 

Dombrowski, for his section, mentioned that he had already knowledgeable Hoskins of the Harper state of affairs.