Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is entering his first year as the skipper of the Brew Crew but he has been with the organization since 2015. His personality and jokes are well known around the clubhouse in which he does a great job at keeping things light. For Rhys Hoskins, who is new to the team this year, he wasted no time giving him a nickname.
Rhys Hoskins was given the nickname of Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodger infielder Pee Wee Reese.
Pee Wee Reese spent his entire 16 year MLB career with the Dodgers. The 5’10” 160 lb infielder started his playing career in 1940, missed the 1943-45 season due to military service, and last played in 1958. Although he never won an MVP award he did receive votes in 13 seasons, was a 10x All-Star, and he won a World Series in 1955.
Rhys Hoskins, who stands at 6’4″ and 245 lbs, is no “pee wee”. The slugger is a massive human, so it’s quite comical that all it took for his new nickname to catch on was for his new manager to say, “Pee Wee Rhys, get it?”.
How did Rhys Hoskins become a member of the Milwaukee Brewers?
This off-season Rhys Hoskins became a free agent. He previously had spent his entire career with the Philadelphia Phillies, but had missed all of 2023 after tearing his ACL in spring training. Philadelphia elected to move on by permanently shifting Bryce Harper to first base.
In free agency the Brewers ended up signing Hoskins to a two year, $34 million deal. His contract includes an opt out after 2024 and also an $18 million mutual option for a third year in 2026.
Why did Rhys Hoskins choose to sign with the Brewers?
Entering free agency Rhys Hoskins had the following criteria: a chance to win and a chance to get into the playoffs. Milwaukee has made the post season five out of the past six seasons and they havn’t had a losing record since 2016. It’s fair to say that track record of success played a huge role in his decision to sign with the Brewers.
Currently players are just a few weeks into spring training, but already “pee wee rhys” has felt a connection with Milwaukee and he says that they are an easy group to be a part of.
“It’s a great group here. You can tell some of these guys have played together for a long time just by the way they’re interacting in here. That’s pretty easy to be part of. It’s really been awesome.”
Rhys Hoksins
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1 Comment
Now that Hoskins is a Brewer the scariest place in the ballpark will be to get between Hoskins and a camera. Watch out if he has a chance to be on the tube and you get in his way he will run you over.