Rhys Hoskins had a problem with fans and fanning.
The Phillies left fielder had a bad day Monday, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as the Phillies dropped a game at Citizens Bank Park to the Yankees, 4-2. After one of his Ks, a sixth-inning strikeout in which he was slow to run to first after the ball got behind Austin Romine, he glumly walked back to the dugout as one fan yelled at him.
Hoskins heard.
After ducking into the dugout, the third-year player emerged to see the fan eye-to-eye. It appears Hoskins said, “You want to go hit? Go hit,” before retreating into the dugout.
It was unclear whether a Phillies or Yankees fan was on the receiving end. What was clear to Hoskins was he made a mistake.
“Someone said something in the stands that obviously triggered me,” Hoskins told reporters after the game, via the Inquirer. “I was pretty frustrated at the at-bat I’d just had and compounded the mistake. Got caught up in the moment. Shouldn’t happen. Can’t happen. But it did.”