Rhys Hoskins Is Making It Hard for Guardians To Keep Him off the Opening Day Roster

The 2026 MLB regular season is just a week away from beginning.

That means tough roster decisions will have to be made, and for some players, their time with their respective clubs may be coming to an end.

For the Cleveland Guardians, they are in a tough spot, as many prospects have shown that they are ready to make a jump to the big leagues in the upcoming campaign, all while players signed in the offseason show they are worthy of making the Opening Day roster.

One player, who had a slow start before turning his play up a notch, is first baseman and designated hitter Rhys Hoskins.

Hoskins was signed to a minor league deal with the opportunity to make the big league roster, and so far, he's putting up an incredibly strong case to split time with power-hitter Kyle Manzardo at both positions.

On Tuesday, March 17, Hoskins suited up for another spring training matchup for the Guardians against the Cincinnati Reds, providing right-handed power the team was missing in 2025. He crushed a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, belting it into center field off the bat at 109.7 mph at a 36-degree launch angle.

Now, on the spring, he's slashing a strong .233/.343/.567 for an OPS of .910. He's also bashed seven hits, one double and three total home runs for eight RBI. While his strikeout clip of 13 is relatively high, it's obvious that he's just trying to build up his swing prior to the start of the campaign.

Rhys Hoskins broke Statcast on this one.pic.twitter.com/4mlJ0DnGyX
— Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) March 18, 2026

Not only does his play show just how dialed in he is right now, especially with a roster spot on the line, but his comments a few weeks back do as well.

When asked about his time with the Guardians and his future in the league, he stood by his confidence and said he believes he's still good enough to be a regular contributor.

“I still think I can be a productive everyday player in this league, and that's what I'll set out to do," Hoskins said. “I know it's still in there. I know I can be a productive player in this league. I think I proved that last year. But sometimes you just get dealt a bad hand."

He's flashing power and consistency at the plate, all while trying to adapt to the culture the Guardians have built inside the locker room.

Cleveland #Guardians (1B/DH) Rhys Hoskins hit his 2nd HR of the spring today a 397 foot 2-run shot to left field in the 6th inning 106.6 mph off the bat vs the Athletics.

Video - Gary Streiffer#GuardsSpring pic.twitter.com/2NCzF2XHpM
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) March 16, 2026

Manzardo's Struggles Leave the Door Wide Open

The 24-year-old is coming off a 2025 campaign where he slashed .234/.313/.455 for an OPS of .768. Now, that's not a bad mark by any means, but his consistency was all over the place. There were spells where his power would disappear, which was later confirmed to be fatigue due to how long the big league season is.

That inability to stay sharp resulted in him playing as a designated hitter more often than not, finishing the campaign with 125 games played as a designated hitter and 62 as a first baseman. He only played 483 games at first, a relatively low number for a player who's supposed to be the future at that position.

These issues with staying consistent allow Hoskins to come in and split time with Manzardo at both designated hitter and first base.

With both being different hitters, Manzardo being a lefty and Hoskins being a righty, the Guardians will be able to get both a good amount of reps without blocking each other.

If Manzardo doesn't take a bigger leap in 2026 on the fielding end, there's a realistic future where Hoskins, who's 33 years old, begins to take over his spot.