Lehigh Valley first baseman Rhys Hoskins, Lakewood left-hander Ranger Suarez and Reading second baseman Scott Kingery have been selected as the Phillies Minor League Hitter, Pitcher and Defender of the Month, respectively, for April.
Hoskins, 24, batted .338 (26-77) with five doubles, six home runs, 12 RBI, 11 walks, 15 runs, a .427 on-base percentage and 1.063 OPS. He reached base safely in 22 of his 23 games in April, hitting safely in each of his last 11 games of the month. He registered eight multi-hit games, one of which was a multi-home run game on April 15. Hoskins is leading the International League in home runs (7), slugging percentage (.651) and total bases (56), is tied for first in extra-base hits (13) and ranks second in average (.337) and on-base percentage (.431). The Sacramento, Calif. native was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the June 2014 draft.
The 21-year-old Suarez made four starts in April, going 1-0 with a 0.81 ERA (2 ER, 22.1 IP), a 0.85 WHIP (12 H, 7 BB) and 30 strikeouts. After allowing two runs in his first inning of the season, he finished the month with a 21.1-inning scoreless streak, which eventually culminated at 23.1 innings. Suarez struck out a career-high 10 batters in 7.0 scoreless innings on April 20, and then struck out nine in a 7.0-inning complete game in his next start. He ranks second in the South Atlantic League in ERA (0.93) and is third in strikeouts (37). Suarez was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent on April 1, 2012.
Kingery, who turned 23 last week, posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 16 games at second base during the season's first month. He has not committed an error in 20 games overall at the position (78 total chances), extending his streak of consecutive errorless games to 40 since August 13, 2016. Kingery is one of only two second basemen in the Eastern League with a perfect fielding percentage in at least 75 total chances, and his 11 double plays turned rank third in the league at the position. He was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the June 2015 draft.