CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Jayson Werth’s presence at Phillies camp on Friday stirred more than a few memories of the talented lineups that crushed National League pitching for years.

It sparked comparisons to Rhys Hoskins, too.

“I always thought we were similar kind of players,” Werth said at Spectrum Field, where he dropped by to say hello and shake hands with a few season-ticket holders. “He’s a big right-handed hitter. I wouldn’t say his swing is the same, but it’s similar. It’s short. He can get long, but he covers the outside pitch. He doesn’t get fooled on offspeed too much.”

The ability to make pitchers work seems to be ingrained in their DNA, too. Werth averaged 4.41 pitches per plate appearance over his 15-year career. Hoskins averages 4.51. Werth swung at the first pitch only 15.5 percent of the time. Hoskins swings at the first pitch 18.5 percent of the time. Having the guts to hit with two strikes made both successful. But after struggling in the second half of last season, Hoskins examined his swing and his approach. Even he wondered if he needed to make changes when facing 0-0 counts.

“It’s not necessarily swinging more,” Hoskins said. “Because what’s the point of swinging at a slider on the corner, just because it’s a strike? It’s about having the conviction and being confident in the swing.”

Hoskins swung at 29.5 percent of first pitches in the zone last season, according to Statcast, which ranked 125th out of 139 hitters (minimum 250 first pitches in the zone). Not enough swinging? Not necessarily. Look at some of the hitters that swung at even fewer first pitches in the zone: Alex Bregman (28.4 percent), Mookie Betts (27.5 percent), Mike Trout (26.7 percent), Jose Ramirez (25.8 percent), Brett Gardner (23.5 percent) and Xander Bogaerts (20.5 percent).

“I bet if you go and look at those guys when they do swing, I bet their numbers are through the roof,” Hoskins said.

Trout batted .475 with a 1.050 slugging percentage in that spot. Bregman (.318/.636), Betts (.362/.957), Ramirez (.381/.738), Gardner (.281/.625) and Bogaerts (.303/.606) also did damage.

Hoskins batted .263 and slugged .526.

In his first two seasons, Hoskins hit .302 and slugged .623. He wants to get back to that.

“It’s the conviction of the swing, it’s knowing that it’s there, knowing that I know I’m patient early in the count, knowing that the pitchers also know that,” he said. “Then it’s just the cat and mouse game and being confident. OK, I know that they know it. Now it’s time to go. It’s not just swinging at it for the sake of swinging at it because I know it’s going to be a strike.”

“I went through it, too,” Werth said. “I was always selective, but there was a point where I kind of got in my head about swinging at the first pitch. I started making a lot of outs, trying to be more aggressive. All that did was put me back into take mode. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that approach. You’ve just got to be comfortable hitting with two strikes and not let strikeouts affect you.”

Werth noted that he hit more home runs facing 3-2 counts (32) than any other count in his career.

“That was more ammo in my pocket for why I was selective,” he said. “Charlie [Manuel] talked to me about this. Instead of waiting until you get to 3-0, a hitter’s count to be aggressive, have the 0-0 pitch be your 3-0 swing. That’s a different mindset. You change your philosophy. Charlie talked about being creative in the box. The deal is you’re not giving up anything because if it’s something you’re not looking for you just swing through it. That’s the hard part. I’d say I’m going to be aggressive here, then it’s offspeed, then I’m taking a weak swing and making contact.

“If you’re not convicted early in the count, why swing?”

It is easy to forget how difficult the game is. Werth said he always got texts from his father imploring him to swing the bat, begging him not to let another first-pitch fastball down the middle of the plate go by. Hoskins said he found himself watching the postseason last fall, sometimes wondering how hitters took seemingly crushable first pitches for strikes.

“The game is easy from the dugout,” Hoskins said. “The game is easy on TV. But maybe I’m sitting breaking ball. Maybe in our last four games against this guy with a guy in scoring position, he’s gone slider every single time. Whatever the situation may be. Whether you’re guessing or whether you go up there with a plan, the hard part is watching the first-pitch fastball go right down the middle and then being able to stick to your plan.”