As the Cleveland Guardians prepare to take the field for the first time in 2026, the organization made a handful of roster moves on Wednesday as it finalized the Opening Day roster.

Even though Rhys Hoskins is an accomplished veteran with plenty of playoff experience, he signed a Minor League deal with the Guardians at the beginning of March.

With Hoskins making the Opening Day roster, the Guardians had to select his contract from Triple-A Columbus, which they did on Wednesday. 

Hoskins had a relatively slow start to camp, which was expected considering he signed after Spring Training began, but the veteran slugger found his groove midway through camp. He ended up hitting three home runs and three doubles in 39 at-bats, which came out ot a .968 OPS.

Hoskins has the potential to be a massive addition to Cleveland’s lineup in 2026, especially against left-handed pitching.

In order to make room for Hoskins on the 40-man roster, the Guardians announced that they had designated Johnathan Rodriguez for assignment.

Rodriguez once showed promise and potential of being a right-handed power threat in Cleveland’s lineup, and had the Minor League numbers to back that up. However, in 102 at-bats over the last two years, the 26-year-old on;y hit two home runs and struck out 36 times.

It’ll be interesting to see where Cleveland’s playoff cleanup hitter from a year ago ends up.

Unfortunately, the Guardians have some injuries among key players to monitor at the beginning of the season.

Hunter Gaddis will open up the season on the injured list after his Spring Training was cut short due to forearm soreness. The reliever did undergo imaging, and thankfully, it came back clean. Gaddis is back to throwing bullpen sessions, but he still hasn’t pitched in a live game on February 27th.

Hopefully, Gaddis isn’t on the injured list too long, and his symptoms aren’t something that linger throughout the season.

George Valera starting the season on the injured list was also an expected move leading up to Opening Day. He suffered a calf strain in camp, which has kept him out since March 9. The good news is that Valera recently played in a Minor League game, so he may not be sidelined from the big league team for much longer.

The Guardians also placed Andrew Walter on the 15-Day injured list. He is still recovering from the right lat surgery that he underwent at the beginning of the 2025 season. 

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