Two weeks in a row Rhys Hoskins is the main story. It’s hard to overstate just how good he’s been, but here, let’s try:

He has a home run in five consecutive games and eight of his last nine. He has 19 RBIs during that stretch.

His WAR in 18 games is 1.2. Ryan Howard’s was 1.7 for the entire 2008 season. This is not an average stat– it’s how many games a player has won for his team above a replacement level player. Hoskins has already contributed over one win in just 17 games. Howard was only .5 higher over the course of a full season. [UPDATE: This is actually Howard’s WAR since 2008, which means Hoskins has contributed almost as many wins in three weeks as Howward did in 8 years. He costs less, too.]

I like his landing page on Brooks Baseball:

In 2017, compared to how other hitters perform with similar pitches:
Against Fastballs (158 seen), he has had a steady approach at the plate (0.13 c) with an exceptionally low likelihood to swing and miss (4% whiff/swing).

Against Breaking Pitches (78 seen), he has had a patient approach at the plate (0.24 c) with a league average likelihood to swing and miss (27% whiff/swing).

Against Offspeed Pitches (41 seen), he has had an exceptionally patient approach at the plate (0.20 c) with a league average likelihood to swing and miss (33% whiff/swing).

That’s the thing– his swing is such a natural home run swing, and he’s not up there hacking at everything. He’s patient. He walks. Overthinker Joe Maddon agrees:

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young guy look that profound at home plate,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “Look at his walks to strikeouts. That’s the part that tells me he can sustain — not necessarily this pace — but he can sustain it because he doesn’t strike out. He will accept his walks. He doesn’t expand the strike zone. He uses the whole field. He’s a big guy with short movements to the ball. Pretty impressive.”

He has more home runs (11) than the Nationals (8) and Giants (6) since August 14. Pretty incredible.

Let’s hit it!

 

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The roundup:

Nick Foles is still not practicing as he struggles with a lingering, and concerning, elbow issue. On the podcast, Adam reported that the Eagles are not happy with Foles.

“I know that the Eagles have been calling about other backup quarterbacks. I have a source… but I know that the Eagles right now are, for some reason, not fond of Nick Foles. And I don’t know what it is.”

He went on to imply that they could release him.

According to OverTheCap.com, Foles would carry a dead cap hit of $1.6 million this year and $5.4 million next year. They’re currently fourth in the league in dead cap money, with most of it going to Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel. Foles replaced Daniel. Sort of a concerning trend, regardless of the reasons for moving on from those guys.

 

Here’s Mike Missanelli calling me a “sewer dweller” at Fantasy Fest, courtesy of reader Rob:

So I was at fantasy fest and during Mike Miss and Gargano’s Q&A an audience member bashed CB and then asked what they thought of Kyle Scott. Hoping to hear more of a response they just whispered something to each other then Mike responded something about you being a basement dweller and that he gives you credit for lasting this long in a sewer blog. I had started recording and captured him saying the part about how he gives u credit lasting this long in a sewer blog but that’s all I have. I wanted to get more especially the question but wasn’t able to get my phone out in time. Didn’t know if you would be interested in seeing it or not. Love the podcast by the way.

And here’s someone wearing my Hesi Pull Up Jimbo t-shirt at it:

 

This is great:

 

Sal Pal wants to know when he shot his load:

https://twitter.com/BirdBrain2017/status/901823774781317120

 

Eagles players are learning to deal with psycho Jim Schwartz.

 

Donald Trump was pursuing a business deal in Russia, with the help of Vladimir Putin, while he was running for president in 2015 and 2016.

 

Boner:

 

Here’s a guy fishing in his living room.

 

Troll alert:

 

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