Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins undergoes ACL surgery, recovery expected to be 7-9 months

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rhys Hoskins and his Phillies teammates were in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Thursday morning, but for vastly different reasons. While the Phillies arrived at GlobeLife Field ahead of their opening day game against the Rangers, Hoskins underwent left ACL reconstruction surgery in Fort Worth with Dr. Steve Singleton, an orthopedic surgery specialist. Manager Rob Thomson said it went “extremely well.”

The Phillies said the expected recovery timeline is seven to nine months.

Hoskins plans to be around the team as much as possible. The Phillies held a team dinner a few nights ago, which Hoskins attended. He visited his teammates at GlobeLife Field on Wednesday after a doctor’s appointment.

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“He’s been around this whole time,” said catcher Garrett Stubbs. “And in really good spirits. Same Rhys Hoskins as he was before hurting his knee. I think he’ll be around during the season too, which is what everyone wants.

“It’ll obviously be tough for him to not be out there, but he’s a leader in this locker room. People rally behind him. It’s a terrible situation that he’s in, we all wish he could be out there with us, but the leadership role he’ll still have, even when he’s not out there.”

As players started filtering into the visiting clubhouse before Thursday’s game, it was hard to miss Hoskins’ jersey hanging in his locker. It was unclear how it got there, but it felt fitting.

Left-handed starter Ranger Suárez (left elbow strain) threw hard on Wednesday up to 90 feet, and came out of it well. Thomson said it was “the best he has felt” since coming back from the WBC with tightness in his forearm in early March.

Suárez threw out to 120 feet on Thursday. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said they’d hoped Suárez would return to the Phillies by April 15 but now it seems it’ll be longer than that.

After a historic spring training, in which he hit .462/.500/.827 with a 1.327 OPS, Jake Cave earned a spot in the opening day lineup on Thursday. He played in left field and batted eighth. He went hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts in the 11-7 loss to the Rangers.

Thomson said that it’s possible we see more of Cave against right-handed pitching early on, as he eases Kyle Schwarber into left field.

“He’s really had a great spring,” Thomson said of Cave. “You can’t deny it. You’ve got to give him an opportunity to keep it going.”

Cave should provide a bit of versatility to the Phillies, who can play him in the corner outfield spots, and rotate Nick Castellanos and Schwarber through the designated hitter spot.

Outfielder Christian Pache, who was acquired by the Phillies in a trade with the A’s on Wednesday night, will arrive in Texas on Thursday night. The Phillies will have to make a corresponding roster move… Cristopher Sanchez (left triceps strain) will throw two innings on Saturday, according to Thomson… Catcher Rafael Marchan (right hamate fracture) was moved to the 60-day injured list on Thursday morning. Dombrowski said Marchan underwent surgery a few days ago. His estimated timeline is seven to eight weeks.