Former Brewer caps productive spring with spot on Guardians' Opening Day roster

The Milwaukee Brewers don't often dip into the free agent market, and when they do, it's seldom for a player with the name recognition of someone like Rhys Hoskins. However, two years ago, ahead of the 2024 season, the Brewers handed Hoskins a two-year, $34 million contract in what was the most notable and expensive free agent contract Milwaukee has given out since they signed Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80 million contract prior to the 2018 campaign.

What followed for Hoskins was a two-year tenure in Milwaukee that was filled with ups and downs. In each of Hoskins' two seasons in Milwaukee, the Brewers won the NL Central and at least one postseason game. However, while the team was highly successful, Hoskins' individual stats were slightly disappointing by the long-time Philadelphia Phillie's standards.

After posting a 125 OPS+ and 11.4 bWAR in six seasons (including the shortened 2020 campaign) with the Phillies, Hoskins was a 102 OPS+ hitter in Milwaukee and racked up just 0.7 bWAR over the last two years. Despite being one of the Brewers' better hitters during the first two months of the 2025 season, after suffering a thumb sprain in early July, Hoskins lost his starting job to Andrew Vaughn. While that roster decision was in large part due to Vaughn's incredible introduction in Milwaukee, when Hoskins also missed out on the postseason roster, questions arose as to his future value in MLB.

Those questions resulted in Hoskins lingering on the free agent market this winter, and it wasn't until late February that the former Brewer signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Guardians. With it being a minor league deal, Hoskins was not given a spot on Cleveland's 40-man roster and had to prove that he was deserving of a place on the Opening Day roster. As just recently announced by MLB insider Jon Heyman, Hoskins has done just that, and will open the year on the Guardians' big-league roster.

Former Brewer Rhys Hoskins earns a spot on Guardians' Opening Day roster after signing a minor league deal in late February

Hoskins did just enough this spring to force his way onto Cleveland's Opening Day roster. The 33-year-old first baseman crushed three homers and posted a .514 slugging percentage in 12 Cactus League games this spring, which was enough for the Guardians to look past his .229 batting average and 13 strikeouts.

Despite signing a minor league contract, Hoskins still has plenty of potential left in his bat. When the calendar flipped to June last year, Hoskins was sporting an .849 OPS and looked like his former self once again. Adding the fact that the veteran first-baseman was now more than a year removed from his ACL surgery, it seemed as if his resurgence was real. However, then came the poorly timed thumb injury which kicked off a streak of unfortunate events for Hoskins.

In Cleveland, Hoskins now has an opportunity to prove that he can still be an impactful offensive player in today's MLB. Hoskins will be competing for at-bats with third-year first baseman Kyle Manzardo. With Manzardo hitting from the left side, and struggling against left-handed pitching, Hoskins should have plenty of opportunities against southpaws. Hoskins has a career .882 OPS against lefties, so he and Manzardo could form a productive platoon at first base for the Guardians. Cleveland opens their season with a four-game away series against the Seattle Mariners that begins on Thursday.