QUEENS, N.Y. — Rhys Hoskins is not representing the Philadelphia Phillies anymore, but the animosity toward his former rivals in the New York Mets is still very much there.
In the top of the eighth inning, the first baseman — now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers — slid late and past the second-base bag on a Willy Adames fielder’s choice, spiking Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil’s right leg after receiving a throw from third baseman Brett Baty on the forceout.
“Just a late slide,” McNeil said. “We’ve had a little bit of a past so I knew there would be a chance that he’d come in like that. I didn’t like the slide. I wasn’t trying to turn a double play at all. I was just trying to catch the ball. There was no need to break it up.”
Benches have cleared in the Mets-Brewers game after Jeff McNeil took exception to Rhys Hoskins' slide into second base
(via @SNYtv)pic.twitter.com/TXMrxelJk0
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 29, 2024
After the tough collision, McNeil sprang up and yelled over Hoskins, who was still down in the dirt before initially getting up and running toward the Brewers’ dugout. His Milwaukee teammates, however, began to leave the bench to spark both dugouts and bullpens to clear — though no physical altercation ensued.
“I just wish he slid a little earlier,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “When it comes to Jeff’s reaction, I’m with him 100%. He has every right to react the way he reacted and I’ll always back him up.”
According to McNeil, Hoskins is a repeat offender who has unleashed “some pretty questionable slides at second base for sure.”
“I definitely remember looking at some of them from the past that were definitely not OK,” McNeil said.
Some of those slides were also fresh in the memory of Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who was unhappy with Hoskins’ slide, as well.
“It’s one thing playing hard, but going and getting him, it’s happened before in the past when he was with Philly,” Alonso said. “He’s gotten Jeff multiple times in the past… Sliding past the bag that far on a play that isn’t bang-bang, I don’t know about that one.”
While the two clubs began separating while Hoskins pantomimed a crying baby toward McNeil, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza challenged the play for a slide violation, to which the umpiring crew led by Alfonso Marquez deemed it was a clear slide because Hoskins managed to hold onto the bag.
“That’s what’s kind of confusing,” McNeil said. “I don’t know what the rules are, really. Like, can I go get him? Can you not go get him? What is a clean slide? When is it too late? Do you just have to stay on the base? There can be some pretty ugly slides. This game is about player safety. Nobody wants to get hurt.”
Hoskins himself is coming off a devastating knee injury which ended his 2023 season and final year with the Phillies in spring training when he tore his ACL, making his slide all the more mystifying to McNeil.
“You get a guy who misses a year and that’s horrible to see. Then [he] goes right back and tries to put a spike in someone’s leg,” he said. “I don’t want to wish injury on anyone. It was tough to see him miss a year. I felt extremely and when I saw him go down. Just tough circumstances here.”
