Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins. Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Rhys Hoskins and the Mets still hate each other

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 3/29/24

You can take Rhys Hoskins away from the NL East, but there are still plenty of hard feelings between him and the New York Mets. They ignited those feelings again on Friday afternoon in a play at second base that resulted in both benches briefly emptying.

It all started when Hoskins, now playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, took a hard slide into second base to try and break up a double play. He slid into Mets second basemen Jeff McNeil, took out his leg, and knocked him to the ground.

This resulted in McNeil screaming at Hoskins and gesturing toward him while he remained on the ground.

The natural follow-up to that was the benches emptying and Hoskins mocking the Mets by pretending to wipe a tear away from his eyes and making a baby-crying gesture. Was it mature? No. Was it funny? Absolutely.

Watch it all unfold here.

Benches clear in the Mets-Brewers game after Jeff McNeil got upset at Rhys Hoskins’ slide into second pic.twitter.com/1BPBs9Wers
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 29, 2024

The drama between the Mets and Hoskins goes all the way back to the 2019 season when another unwritten base running rule was violated, resulting in the Mets throwing at Hoskins. Hoskins would also hit a home run that resulted in one of the slowest home run trots you could ever imagine.

It is not hard to see why McNeil was so angry here. With the way his leg was positioned and the way Hoskins hit it, he was definitely at risk for a very serious injury. He was fortunate to avoid that. The Mets challenged for a slide violation, but a replay review determined no such violation happened.

Hoskins missed the entire 2023 season due to a knee injury and signed with the Brewers in free agency.

He might not be a Phillie or play in the NL East anymore, but he and the Mets still have some clear issues with one another.

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