Rhys Hoskins Will Not Stop Hitting Home Runs

It's entirely possible that Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins is an alien.

That was the nickname given to him by his teammate, fellow rookie outfielder Nick Williams, after Hoskins slugged a pair of home runs on Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins, one of which tied the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. Oh, and the tying dinger was off of a 100 miles per hour pitch.

Last night, Hoskins went deep again, his 17th home run in his first 33 games, and it came off of Marlins starter Dan Straily.

On the season, Hoskins is batting .310/.434/.784 with a weighted on base average (wOBA) of .488 and a weighted runs created (wRC+) of 205. His fWAR of 2.3 is third among Phillies position players -- and he was called up on August 10th. Among first basemen with at least 140 plate appearances, his wOBA, wRC+, slugging percentage, and isolated power (ISO) would all be tops in baseball.

No one in baseball history has ever done what Hoskins is doing right now. His 17 blasts in his first 33 games are five more than any other player. (The most home runs for any player in their first 50 games is the 19, a feat accomplished by both Gary Sanchez and Cody Bellinger.) Prorated over a 162-game season, Hoskins would hit 83 bombs.

That would be a record, ya know.

But Hoskins isn't merely a dinger-bashing alien. His plate discipline -- which was consistent throughout his minor league career -- has blossomed upon reaching The Show. He's walking in 16.8% of his plate appearances thus far and striking out in only 18.2%, all while posting an isolated power of .474.

In his brief 33-game career, Hoskins is slugging fastballs at a clip of .776. (Only J.D. Martinez has been better.) Since that August 10th debut, he's hit more homers than anyone in baseball, passing Martinez and Giancarlo Stanton, and he's already just four away from taking the team lead from Tommy Joseph (21).

His 37 RBI are tied with Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Zeke Bonura for the most through a player's first 33 games. He is the fastest player to 17 bombs, with the next closest being Wally Berger, who required 42 games to get there. And that was way back in 1930.

Hoskins has hit a home run in 15 of his 33 games -- the previous record for most bombs hit in a player's first 33 games was 12.

Oh, and if you count the 29 homers he hit in 115 games at AAA, he's at 46 total on the season.

Hoskins' strength comes from being comfortable at the plate, regardless of the situation. Even when he's facing an 0-2 count, he's till produced a 1.014 OPS. It's his ability to hit when behind in the count combined with his avoiding strikeouts -- and to take walks -- that makes one believe his incredible start will translate into future success.

He's not going to hit a home run once every 11.9 plate appearances for his career, but he's off to the greatest power start in Major League history, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Then again, it may last forever. Because Rhys Hoskins is clearly not of this world.