Rhys Hoskins comes back to Citizens Bank Park, the place where he helped turn the Phillies around

When Aaron Nola thinks back on the seven seasons that he teamed with Rhys Hoskins, he remembers the home runs and the high fives, the big wins and oh-so-many losses, and of course, the Bat Spike.

Mostly, though, he recalls the pingpong.

“We used to play pingpong every day when he came up and went on that hot streak as a rookie,” Nola said, laughing. “He’d always beat me in pingpong — every single game. We’d always be messing around.”

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It was 2017. They were 24, a slinger and a slugger, drafted four rounds and 132 picks apart three years earlier. And the Phillies were bad. Really bad. On pace for 102 losses, in fact, before a 10-0 rout by the Mets in Hoskins’ major-league debut on Aug. 10.

But something transformative was about to happen. Hoskins went deep twice on Aug. 14 in San Diego, the start of a Ryan Howard-like stretch of 11 homers in 60 plate appearances over 14 games.

And whether or not anyone realized it then, it changed the trajectory of a rebuilding process.

“We weren’t looking too good in ‘17, and Rhys came up and was a new spark,” Nola said. “He went on that streak where he was hitting home run after home run, and it was legit. All’s I know is, going into ‘18, we had a lot better squad than we did in ‘17.”

Let that be Hoskins’ Phillies legacy.

Because if you were struggling with how to feel Monday night, when Hoskins returned to town with the Brewers — and got multiple standing ovations, a video tribute on Phanavision, and even serenaded by his old walk-up song, Calvin Harris’ “Slide,” before stealing a base (seriously), getting thrown out at the plate, and homering against Zack Wheeler in a 3-1 Phillies victory — think about this: The Phillies went 24-27 after he got called up in 2017, still finished with 96 losses, but felt so good about their young core — with Hoskins as the fresh, smiling face — that they put their foot on the accelerator.

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In the 2017-18 offseason, the Phillies sped into free agency. They signed Carlos Santana, Pat Neshek, and Tommy Hunter. In spring training, they threw $75 million at Jake Arrieta. They hired manager Gabe Kapler because they thought his progressive style would be better for young players than old-school Pete Mackanin.

OK, so they went too fast. But although they weren’t ready to win (the 2018 Phillies finished 80-82 despite being 72-62 on Sept. 1), they kept pushing. The following offseason, they traded for Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto and signed — gulp! — Bryce Harper for — gulp! — $330 million.

Nothing at 1 Citizens Bank Way was ever the same.

Surely, it wasn’t all because of Hoskins and a two-week homer binge in August 2017. But if any one thing began to drag the Phillies out of rebuilding darkness, well, that’s a good place to start.

“Just to get to see the transformation of where this place was when I got called up and how we as a group were able to kind of turn it into what it is now,” Hoskins said Monday, “yeah, it’s easy to be proud of that.”

Hoskins averaged 30 homers, 82 RBIs, and an .833 OPS in the five full seasons from 2018 to 2022. He was often the right-handed, middle-of-the-order counterweight to Harper. And he was an instant leader in the clubhouse, even if he had less major-league service time than many teammates.

“While he may have had ups and downs on the field, as every player does, this guy is one of the most accountable, team-first leaders that I’ve been around,” said former Phillies general manager Matt Klentak, now a Brewers executive. “I think the fans also appreciate that.”

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Sometimes. But Hoskins’ streakiness at the plate made him a frequent target of fan frustrations. None of that mattered Monday night. When Dan Baker read Hoskins’ name during the introduction of the lineups, most of the 43,553 paying customers stood and cheered. They did the same during the video montage before the second inning.

And when Hoskins came to the plate, well, they roared.

Wheeler stepped off the mound to give Hoskins his time. Hoskins put an arm around Realmuto, doffed his helmet, and raised it to every corner of the ballpark. He took several deep breaths. He even blinked away a few tears.

”I have to say that’s a first for me,” said Hoskins, who snuck a peek into the stands and spotted his wife, Jayme. “I think I was able to reel it in a little bit. Just overwhelmed with emotion there. It’s something that, I’ll get to tell a story. Really, really memorable, for sure. But that’s what this place does. I’m not surprised by it.”

It might’ve taken the Bat Spike — Hoskins’ famous reaction to his three-run homer in the third inning of Game 3 of the 2022 National League Division Series, the first postseason game in Philadelphia in 11 years — for some fans to come around on Hoskins. After all, he was booed loudly before that game because he’d been slumping and made a pivotal error in Game 2.

For others, it took realizing how much the Phillies missed Hoskins last season after he tore the ACL in his left knee in spring training.

But as the city better understood Hoskins, he reciprocated. He and Jayme willingly spent several winters in Philadelphia when they could have gone home to their native California. They wanted to be part of the community. The work they did to support the Philadelphia chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other charities was laudable.

“I have to believe it made my time here 1,000% better just understanding what makes these people tick, why they cheer as hard as they do, and why they boo as hard as they do,” Hoskins said. “It just seems to mean a little bit different here, and you love that as a player.

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“We never really spent much time in a big city like this, coming from a smaller town on the West Coast. We ended up loving it so much that we stayed. It’s a great chapter of my life. And I have a much different and much more of a respect for this city and just how great it can be.”

The Phillies moved on from Hoskins last winter after deciding to keep Harper at first base. It was a baseball decision, and it has worked out for everyone. The Phillies have the best record (42-19) in the NL; the Hoskins-led Brewers are in first place in their division.

But if this was a night for everyone to gain “closure,” as Hoskins suggested, it was also an appropriate time to appreciate what he meant to the organization. He was more than a bridge between the dark years and the renaissance of postseason contention.

Looking back, Hoskins also was an impetus.

“I feel like, ever since Rhys came up, we always made that little step in the right direction,” Nola said. “It’s been really cool to see that from my perspective, and I’m sure when Rhys was here, his perspective to see how far we’ve come.”