MIAMI -- Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday, a day after an MRI scan revealed a Grade 2 sprain of his left thumb. First baseman Andrew Vaughn was recalled from Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move.
On the same day he hit his first triple in more than three years, Hoskins was forced to exit Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park after a hard tag at first base. X-rays were negative, but Hoskins missed Sunday’s series finale while undergoing additional tests.
The Brewers’ backups at first base include Jake Bauers, who took over for Hoskins on Saturday and started Sunday, and Vaughn, the former White Sox first baseman who was acquired last month in a trade for pitcher Aaron Civale.
“It’s sore, for sure,” Hoskins said on Saturday night. “I finished the inning, but I didn’t feel comfortable swinging the bat down below. I felt like somebody else in there would give us a better chance.”
Hoskins was pulled off the bag by a wide throw from Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz as Marlins first baseman Eric Wagaman legged out a grounder in the fourth inning. Hoskins was able to catch the ball and tag Wagaman while he ran by, but Hoskins immediately grabbed at his glove in pain.
Hoskins stayed in the game for the remainder of that inning, but as his turn to bat approached in the fifth, Bauers stepped into the on-deck circle. Bauers then took over on defense in the bottom of the fifth.
“It doesn’t look great,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I think it’s going to be super sore. It’s your bottom hand swinging, so it’s really, really important. I don’t think we’ll see him [for] a few days. Hopefully it’s not an [injured list situation], but it might be, depending how he feels in the next few days. …
“I could tell it was killing him, but he finished the inning and came in and tried to grab a bat. He said, ‘No, I can’t grab a bat.’ For it to be like that, and Rhys Hoskins, because I know who he is, it’s got to be really hurting him.”
It’s been a healthy year so far for Hoskins, who spent his first season with the Brewers getting his legs back under him in the wake of left knee surgery in 2023. He reached safely in each of his two plate appearances on Saturday starting with a run-scoring triple off Miami starter Cal Quantrill that bounced under the glove of center fielder Dane Myers and rolled to the wall in the second inning -- Hoskins’ first triple since June 15, 2022, for the Phillies against the Marlins.
Asked what he was thinking when the ball bounced past the outfielder, Hoskins said, “Get to third.”
“I got some jokes thrown at me from some guys in the dugout about not even trying to sniff home, but you’ve got to get to third base with one out. My days of inside-the-park home runs are probably behind me, and that’s OK.”
Overall this season, Hoskins has a .242/.340/.428 slash line.