What Phillies fan didn’t knock on wood or touch grass or mutter a quick prayer for their own trio of players after watching Edwin Díaz suffer an injury in the World Baseball Classic, not even during a game, but while celebrating a win?
A couple of weeks later, the Phillie who sustained a similar injury wasn’t in the WBC. In fact, Rhys Hoskins was playing well in spring training before tearing his ACL during a game Thursday.
He now will require surgery.
So now what happens with the Phillies lineup?
Scott Lauber has some ideas, theories, and decent guesses as to how Rob Thomson will cope.
— Andrea Canales, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
❓Who will step up in the absence of Rhys Hoskins? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.
unCovering the Birds with Jeff McLane Ep 1: The Gambler is ready to play
Philly football’s most seasoned beat reporter gives his Bird’s-eye view on some untold stories from on and off the field, only in The Inquirer’s new podcast — unCovering the Birds with Jeff McLane — in partnership with Audacy and sponsored by Wawa.
Rhys Hoskins, the Phillies’ most dangerous right-handed hitter of the past few seasons, has joined Bryce Harper, the most dangerous lefty, on the sidelines. Just like that, a white-hot spotlight shifted to Nick Castellanos. In 2022, the first season of a five-year contract that will pay him $100 million, Castellanos hid in a lineup that saw Hoskins, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Harper rank in the top eight spots of most key offensive categories. He can’t hide any more. If the Phillies hope to field a potent lineup, they need more from Castellanos.
Next: Seranthony Domínguez will start for the Phillies against the Blue Jays at 6:07 p.m. Friday.
About an hour after Villanova punched its ticket to the Sweet 16, Miami clinched its berth in thrilling fashion, knocking off No. 1 seed Indiana. While it’s “exciting” to have made it this far, as senior Brooke Mullin said, the Wildcats are focused on the task ahead, namely the Hurricanes’ defensive intensity.
Meghann Morhardt has the scouting report here.
The Wildcats-Hurricanes matchup has an interesting twist, as it features stars on both teams who have taken advantage of NIL opportunities.
Miami may have the size advantage, but Christina Dalce looks to hold it down inside.
Next: No. 4-seeded Villanova faces No. 9 Miami in the Sweet 16 (2:30 p.m., ESPN).
Joel Embiid, a product of “The Process,” has been with the 76ers long enough to know that the current team has a different vibe and mission. There were times when his teammates were fine with a loss here and there. Now, when they suffer a loss, the Sixers take it personally, as was evident in their win against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Embiid credits Doc Rivers with instilling that mentality and culture.
Next: The Sixers continue their four-game road trip Friday against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center (10 p.m., NBCSP).
Do you remember the last time the Eagles took a running back in the first round?
It’s not something the team historically does. But Texas running back Bijan Robinson is one of the best players in the draft, so will the Eagles pick him at No. 10 or wait until the second day to add to their running back corps? EJ Smith breaks down the options.
The Birds might not wait until the draft, as reports indicated that former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott had narrowed down his wish list to three teams — including the Eagles.
With the Flyers down late, one of the youngsters stepped up when 21-year-old winger Tyson Foerster scored the goal to force overtime. The Flyers went on to win, 5-4, in a shootout.
“Since I’ve been back here for the last, whatever, five years I think, we try to play right ‘til the end, no matter what,” James van Riemsdyk, who notched the game-winner, said. “Sometimes it may be a little bit ugly, but I think it’s something we’ve kind of prided ourselves on trying to do is just be resilient and keep playing no matter what the score is.”
The Flyers are averaging 4.4 goals over their last five games and have won consecutive games for the first time since January.
Next: The Flyers will try to keep their winning ways going with a home matinee on Saturday (1 p.m., NBCSP).
Nathan Harriel quietly is a Union Academy success story. He hasn’t gone abroad for a big contract, and he isn’t currently a regular starter. But he’s a solid backup to one of the top defenders in the league, and with the number of games the Union face on their schedule, he is likely to be deputized in that role often. Now the Union have assured he will remain for a while with a new contract.
The Union will need all the help they can get against Orlando this weekend, since they’ll be nine players short.
Next: The Union will host Orlando at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (free on Apple TV+).
Worth a look
Familiar name: Penn State defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. has plenty of wisdom to lean on from his father, a former Flyer.
Sisterly love: St. Joe’s senior Jaden Walker is “excited” to see her little brother, Houston’s Jarace Walker, in the Sweet 16.
Next up: Wooga Poplar is the latest Philly hoops star making his mark at Miami.
What you’re saying about the next Temple men’s hoops coach
We asked: Who should be the next Temple men’s basketball coach? Among your responses:
Dawn Staley — Bob R.
Dawn Staley — Dawn has a successful track record for turning around every program she has coached.
Dawn was so successful at Temple that South Carolina cherry picked her to take over their women’s basketball program, leading them to a National Championship.
Dawn has demonstrated the determination, knowledge, skills, and personality to be a head coach anywhere, and with her Philadelphia affiliation she possess what it will take to re-ignite Temple’s Men’s Basketball program to National recognition.
The challenges for Temple to make this happen; money, courage to hire a female, potential locker room access, money. I list money twice because Temple has historic money issues when it comes to their athletic program. In recent years Temple has been unable or unwilling to pay successful coaches the large salaries necessary to retain them ([Al] Golden, [Matt] Rhule). And if they want to hire Dawn their going to need to pony up some big bucks to entice her to leave South Carolina. — Ron F.
I want Mark Jackson to be next coach of Temple — Donnell P.
Mark Macon, high profile African American coach. Already in the Temple program, probably knows the city well. Former Temple Owl and Pro. — Richard L.
I know this sounds blasphemous but Billy Lange of St Joe’s deserves consideration for this position. Most would ask why. The response is that Billy Lange is a winner who went from winning at the Naval Academy to becoming an assistant coach for the Sixers. Truth be told under Brett Brown — he was the offensive innovator on the staff and had the respect of most of the players if not all on that team. Why did Brown get fired — poor offense. That occurred after Lange left to save the St Joe’s dwindling program where the new AD believed she could turn it into an east coast Notre Dame. Other than a Catholic Centric education, what does St Joe’s offer at a D-1 Level for world oriented and culture concerned students? That’s the correct answer — not much! Lange would recruit the hell out of the Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware area. He would entice the heck out of the transfer portal and give the Temple players a true offensive play book to at least begin an NIT appearance. With professional contacts in multiple cities to project professional draft possibilities for top performing recruits — Billy Lange is a definite consideration to improve where Coach McKie didn’t have the juice. — Gene M.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Scott Lauber, Meghann Morhardt, Mike Jensen, Keith Pompey, EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, Olivia Reiner, Jonathan Tannenwald, Lochlahn March, Aaron Tully, and Jeff Neiburg.
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