On February 22, the Cleveland Guardians decided to take a leap of faith on someone who has surpassed the 25-homer threshold five times in his career: Rhys Hoskins.
Hoskins is not particularly athletic and is not a good defender, but he does one thing very well: hit for power. He quietly has 186 career home runs and sent 12 balls out of the park last year in 90 games, in a down season.
The circumstances in which he was signed, however, gave the Guardians a chance to secure a premium power hitter for a very small price. He had to prove himself in the Cactus League, though, because it was, after all, a minor league signing.
Hoskins has done that and more. On Tuesday, he hit another homer against the Cincinnati Reds to put his OPS over the .900 mark.
“Hoskins is slugging .586 with a .939 OPS over his 34 plate appearances in the spring,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
Hoskins is slugging .586 with a .939 OPS over his 34 plate appearances on the spring. https://t.co/N4ZpWqf9oc
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) March 18, 2026
The blast, which left Hoskins’ bat at 109.7 mph, was his third of the spring. He had another plate appearance after the round-tripper, so those numbers changed slightly to a .567 slugging percentage and a .910 OPS. The point stands, though: he’s getting hot in a hurry.
No one in the Guardians has more home runs than Hoskins’ three in Cactus League play, and only superstar Jose Ramirez has driven in more teammates, with nine. The slugging first baseman/designated hitter has eight RBI so far.
The expectation is that Hoskins captures a roster spot and pushes CJ Kayfus to Triple-A, at least to open the year. The former Phillie and Brewer will share first base and designated hitter duties with Kyle Manzardo, complementing him to perfection.
Over the course of his career, Hoskins has been much better against lefties (137 wRC+) than righties (115), but he has no issues facing the latter and doesn’t need to be platooned. The Guardians still haven’t officially determined how they will use him, but they have to officially give him a roster spot first. It’s widely expected to happen in the upcoming days.
Hoskins alone won’t make the Guardians a top-five offense, but he sure can help in a department that has consistently failed in recent years: power.
NEXT: Chase DeLauter Making Loud Statement In Camp
