Guardians news: Cleveland hoping for Rhys Hoskins boost before playoffs appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Cleveland Guardians are continuing to battle for a playoff spot. They are only two games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central division, while Cleveland also holds the third and final AL Wild Card spot at the moment. One of their better power hitters, Rhys Hoskins, is currently on the injured list, however. The Guardians have some uncertainty and would benefit from his return, but will the slugger be available for the postseason?
According to MLB.com, Hoskins is expected to return "potentially" in September. He's been dealing with lower back inflammation but is reportedly participating in baseball activities and the Guardians are hoping to have him available for the playoffs.
Hoskins, 33, was hitting just .179 with a .682 OPS before landing on the IL. He hit 13 home runs, which is one of the higher marks on the Guardians. In fact, the only Guardians with more long ***** this season are Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe, Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez.
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#spot

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court has rejected a request to let voters decide in November whether to erect some of the nation's strongest protections for laws and constitutional amendments passed by citizen initiative.
Citizen initiatives are placed on the ballot in Missouri if voters collect enough signatures. The secretary of state can reject measures that he deems violate the constitution.
The ruling Wednesday by a Cole County judge upholds a decision by Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who had blocked the amendment from the November ballot despite thousands of petition signatures for it. Hoskins ***** erted that the measure violated the state constitution by containing multiple subjects and restricting a republican form of government.
The group Respect Missouri Voters, which backed initiative petition, said it will appeal and expects to prevail.
Missouri has been at the center of a national battle over direct democracy. In August, voters overwhelmingly defeated a measure placed on the ballot by lawmakers that would have imposed one of the nation's toughest standards for passing citizen-initiated amendments.

#missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump to be used in the November elections, rejecting a bid by to put the Republican-friendly districts to a statewide vote of the people.
The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. But the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.
Missouri's new districts already were used in the August primaries. On that same day, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with thousands of signatures seeking to force a November referendum on the map. Hoskins ******* erted that Missouri's Constitution doesn't allow a referendum on congressional redistricting.
The judge agreed with Hoskins and other Republicans, who joined in defense of the new map.
"The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General ******* embly to a referendum process," Green wrote in the ruling.

#hoskins #districts #House #republicans

A wave of additions to the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers roster have been announced as the 2026 Detroit Tigers draft class receives their first ***** ignments in pro ball. 2026 first round selection RHP Cameron Flukey heads the list, as he is slated to debut in the organization with a start for the Flying Tigers later this week. The 21-year-old right-hander, selected 22nd overall back in July, missed the early part of his college season with Coastal Carolina due to a stress fracture in his ribs. The Tigers have decided to try to make up some of those innings lost in his final college season, and sources have reported that Flukey has looked very good in his bullpen sessions as he prepares to start his pro career. If things go well, there's a good chance he could begin his first full season in 2027 at the High-A level, putting him on a relative fast track towards the upper levels of the minor leagues.
Joining Flukey in Lakeland will also be 2026 sixth rounder SS Maddux Molony, and seventh rounder 1B Brady Ballinger. The Tigers have already made some additions to the Flying Tigers roster in recent weeks as former top prep picks LHP Paul Wilson and RHP Owen Hall have each made a few appearances. An exciting young shortstop prospect in Angel De Los Santos has been making waves after a strong showing in the Complex League and some good work in his first seven games for the Flying Tigers with a pair of home runs already. Fellow 19-year-old infielder Ronald Ramirez is also off to a strong start.
Shortstop Tyson LeBlanc, the Tigers second round pick this year, is currently on the 7-day IL with an undisclosed injury, but seems likely to return in time to start his pro career in Lakeland before the season ends.
The Bridge League, which is essentially an unofficial continuation of the Complex League on the backfields, has also had some interesting news as both RHP Michael Massey and RHP Zach Swanson, two high bonus picks who have spent most of their time in pro ball on the injured list, have made appearances. Massey was the Tigers' 4th rounder out of Wake Forest in 2024, while Swanson was a prep pick in the same draft. The duo were among our favorite arms selected over the past four drafts under the Scott Harris front office, so it's good to finally see them healthy and getting some work in.
Finally, 3B Carson Rucker, along with RHP Luke Hoskins, and RHP Maddux Long, have been promoted from Lakeland to High-A West Michigan.

#flying #start

CHICAGO (AP) — Munetaka Murakami homered and Tristan Peters and Chase Meidroth each drove in a pair of runs in Chicago's five-run sixth inning as the White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 Saturday, snapping a season-worst four-game skid.
Braden Montgomery singled in a run in the eighth as Chicago (60-56) increased its first-place lead in the AL Central to three games over Cleveland and Minnesota.
Rhys Hoskins had two hits, including a two-run homer. Angel Genao went deep in the seventh and added a single for Cleveland, which has lost four of five.
Anthony Kay (9-5) allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked one in a second straight solid start. Four relievers followed, and Grant Taylor worked around a single in the the ninth for his sixth save.
Gavin Williams allowed two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walked two.

#cleveland #single

Sometimes, you gotta make the tough call to put the old steer out to pasture.
Rhys Hoskins has a 95 wRC+ this season. That, especially on the Guardians, is not bad. However, this includes a 79 wRC+ since June 1st, during which time he has struck out 37% of the time. Even more prominently, since June 1st of LAST season, Hoskins has a 57 wRC+ against LHP. Why has Hoskins forgotten how to hit southpaws on a team that needs him to be able to be the career 130 wRC+ against them he has traditionally been like no other? I don't know. Because the baseball gods hate us, probably. It's likely one of two options: 1. small sample size and he'll eventually correct things, or 2. the canary in the coal mine that he is washed overall.
Regardless, Hoskins isn't helping the Cleveland Guardians win baseball games in his current role of supposed lefty masher who plays first base when LHP are on the mound. He's not a good defender. But, he is, from all accounts, great in the clubhouse. So great that the team is a game under .500 on August 8th. You can probably sense my skepticism that his clubhouse skills are indispensible to this team's success.
I think it's probably time to give Kody Huff a chance at a platoon first-base/occasional catching reps role. Huff has a .793 OPS against LHP and .914 OPS against RHP this season, but has traditionally hit LHP better than RHP as most RHH's do. Most importantly, he has a higher OPS away from the Columbus bandbox than at home (.888/.879). Zach Meisel of the Athletic has repeatedly mentioned on the Selby is Godcast that the team "LOVES" Huff and it was a big reason they were willing to trade Jacob Cozart and Bo Naylor at the trade deadline. Great opportunity to potentially get Huff some experience with Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey and make use of the 235 innings he has played at first base to hopefully leverage their way to an improvement over what Hoskins has done against left-handed pitching.
By September, if Huff struggles and Ralphy Velazquez continues his recent breakout, I would love to see the team give Velazquez reps in a first base/DH role and let him hit LHP. (Cooper Ingle cannot hit lefties, in case anyone is wondering about him in a full-time DH role). Ralphy has consistently hit LHP slightly better than he has RHP over the past two seasons. He's a full-time hitter, eventually, and it would be great to give him a chance to experience big league pitching and potentially help a team trying to make the playoffs. But, for now, the team needs to take a shot at improving their roster in the Hoskins' role, even at the risk to clubhouse chemistry, and Huff seems to be the best potential option.

#huff #base

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's top election official has rejected a citizens' petition seeking a statewide referendum on new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump.
Supporters of the referendum had submitted hundreds of thousands of petition signatures in a bid to force a November election on a new U.S. House map approved by the Republican-led state Legislature. But Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins ****** erted Tuesday that the petition is void because congressional redistricting plans cannot be subject to voter referendums.
The number of petition signatures submitted doesn't matter, Hoskins said, because "challenging a congressional map is unconstitutional under Missouri law."
A group backing the referendum effort said it will contest Hoskins' decision in court.
"Secretary of State Hoskins is making a last desperate attempt to silence the people's voice in Missouri," Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, said in a statement, while ****** erting there are more than enough signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

#petition #secretary

Why Bryce Harper's return to right field for Phillies may be huge mistake originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It can be argued that the Philadelphia Phillies' defense worsened with their acquisition of Luis Arraez.
The three-time batting champion wanted to remain at second base, so the Phillies did some reshuffling on the diamond.
Bryson Stott moved from second to third base. Alec Bohm is now on the other side of the field, manning first.
Bryce Harper, who became a full-time first baseman in 2024 following his Tommy John Surgery and an injury to Rhys Hoskins, is back in right field.

#right

The Guardians debuted their post-deadline roster last night against the woeful Mets, but they were the ones who were woeful.
Jo Adell was awesome; he left ****** ody on base. So how did the other 9 participants leave 29? Bazzana left 7, Hoskins left 6, Martinez left 5. There's 18. Arias's 4 gets us to 22. More on him in a minute. Lowe 3, Kwan 2. 27. DeLauter and Rocchio 1 each. 29. Austin Hedges, who was hitless, was the only new friend of Adell's who also left 0.
The gawdawful situational hitting wasn't the only fundamental that the Guardians neglected last night.
It was Rocchio who made the last out at third, and it was Arias who made a terrible throw for the error. He might be DFA'd by the time you read this becauuuuuuusssseeee…..
Let's hope it's that, and not Jose Ramirez going back on the IL with the wrist soreness that kept him out of this game v NYM.

#left

In what is likely the final piece of the Guardians' trade deadline puzzle, they have acquired left-handed hitting DH Nathaniel Lowe from the Cincinnati Reds.
Lowe has a 120 wRC+ for the year which includes a 137 wRC+ against RHP and a -52 wRC+ vs LHP. For his career, however, Lowe has a 103 wRC+ vs LHP (123 wRC+ vs RHP). I suspect he has been brought in to mostly platoon at DH with potentially Rhys Hoskins. Lowe is a rental like Foster Griffin.
Lowe is capable of putting a glove on his hand at first base, but you don't want him to do it very often.
No word on the return yet but we will update when we know.
Lineup vs. RHP:

#cincinnati #reds #hoskins #griffin

CLEVELAND (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll homered during a seven-run seventh inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cleveland Guardians 12-8 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.
Perdomo also had the fourth four-hit game of his six-year career and drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks, who hold the second wild-card spot in the National League. The shortstop is 6 for 10 with four RBIs in the first two games of the series.
Brian McCann had three hits while Nolan Arenado also went deep with a solo shot in the eighth inning.
Rhys Hoskins and Chase DeLauter homered for Cleveland, which is 5-10 since the All-Star break. Steven Kwan added three hits as the Guardians (56-56) fell to .500 for the first time since May 10.
Gerardo Carrillo (2-0), the second of six Arizona pitchers, got the win after throwing two scoreless innings.

#perdomo #Guardians #inning #fourth

Alan Roden delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in his season debut, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, July 8, in Minneapolis.
Roden finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs one day after Minnesota promoted him from Triple-A Saint Paul. Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Twins, who increased their winning streak to four games.
Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in three runs for the Guardians, who took their fourth loss in a row. Rhys Hoskins added a solo home run.
Twins reliever Yoendrys Gomez (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Gomez notched his 10th save one night earlier as the Twins won the series opener 3-1.
Guardians reliever Matt Festa (2-2) allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Much as been made by fans following popular baseball prospect site, baseballamerica.com, posting their organizational rankings among all MLB teams. The hometown Phillies ranked as the 29th worst farm system in the league based on prospect talent. This seems bad, huh? For a team with aging stars and up against the luxury tax threshold, an injection of young talent could be the only way to prolong this current run of regular seasons success for the Phillies. You are now thinking, how could they have fallen from 20th (in the preseason ranking) to near dead-last? What might have caused this? Well, two things. The graduation of prospects and the lack of development elsewhere. In regards to the former, it always seems to go over the casual fan’s head that could be a driving factor in these nonsensical rankings (nothing against rankings, I love them…but they are really arbitrary and objective). The Phillies graduated two Top100 MLB prospects in Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford. That is a legit major factor! This doesn’t even factor in struggles by Jean Cabrera, Aroon Escobar, Dante Nori, and Carson DeMartini. Not to mention their best prospect has yet to take the field (a consensus Top20 prospect in the game) in shortstop Aidan Miller.
I’m NOT saying this isn’t time to hit the panic **** on. Development has stagnated among prospects, especially on the hitting side. It feels any promising prospect hits that AA/AAA wall and nothing ever materializes. Its frustrating! The Phillies need to do a lot better in both drafting and international scouting. It is largely why the last few years the Phillies have needed to sign and trade for talent rather than find it within the organization. It isn’t a sustainable model if you aren’t blowing past the luxury tax.
You may ask, has it always been like this? Haven’t the Phillies had touted prospects and a system not that long ago? Lets look back at 2016, using a similar list from baseballamerica.com (its their preseason ranking, they didn’t do a full 30 for midseason). In 2016, the Phillies ranking 8th in the league. Led by promising names like JP Crawford, Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, and Jorge Alfaro.
Now these are some great names. The Phillies most impactful player wound up being 23rd ranked 1B-only prospect Rhys Hoskins. Who if memory serves me correctly, wasn’t nearly as fawned over as the monstrous OF Dylan Cozens. A lot of the names on here were also acquired via trade including: Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Darnell Sweeney, Ben Lively, Jimmy Cordero, and Tom Windle. 10 years later, only Hoskins, Crawford, Eflin, and Nick Pivetta remain major leaguers or had significant impacts.
If you were to tell me that there will be less than four impactful players from this year’s midseason Top30 Phillies list, I wouldn’t argue with you. I’m not sure the same amount of pedigree is there as there was in 2016. However, there is still some optimism. Gage Wood looks at a MINIMUM a

Kody Clemens went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Austin Martin and Brooks Lee added one RBI apiece for Minnesota, which took the opener of a three-game series. The Twins have won three games in a row.
Rhys Hoskins hit a solo homer for Cleveland's only run. Chase DeLauter went 2-for-3 with a double for the Guardians, who dropped their third straight game.
Twins right-hander Taj Bradley (8-3) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 without a walk.
Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo (7-4) took the hard-luck loss after allowing two unearned runs on six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Taj Bradley allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings, Kody Clemens had two hits and an RBI, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Bradley (8-3), who set a career best with 11 strikeouts in his last outing July 1 at Houston, had swing-and-miss stuff all night, registering a career-high 25 swinging strikes. He allowed three hits and walked none, winning for the third time in his last four starts.
Andrew Morris pitched a perfect eighth inning, while Taylor Rogers and Yoendrys Gómez combined on a scoreless ninth for the Twins, who have won six of their last eight games
Rhys Hoskins homered for the Guardians, who lost their third in a row.
Joey Cantillo (7-4) pitched five innings, giving up two runs — both unearned — on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

On another hot day in Cleveland, the game today started as a pitchers' duel. The Big Rig and Anthony Kay got off to blazing starts, and it was Anthony Kay who would blink first. After retiring the first 6 hitters in a row to start the game, Gabriel Arias and Austin Hedges would draw back to back walks to start the 3rd inning. Kwan would sacrifice them both to 3rd with a bunt, and an RBI single from Travis Bazzana would plate the first run of the game for the Guards. That would be all they got in the inning, as David Fry would ground into a double play.
Gavin Williams would get into a little trouble in the 4th, as the White Sox would get 2 runners on with only one out. He was able to work out of it with a strikeout and a weak grounder to end the inning. The Big Rig would get into trouble again in the 5th. After back to back singles and a sacrifice, the White Sox would get both runners into scoring position with only 1 out. Gavin got a weak ground ball that was unable to score the run from 3rd for the second out of the inning. Unfortunately the Big Rig wouldn't be able to escape this jam. As the wind began to pick up and blow debris all around the field, and after a hard fought 10 pitch battle with Miguel Vargas, it would be Vargas who would emerge victorious, clobbering a 3 run homer down the left field line. Immediately after, the umpiring crew would call for the tarp, and we would head into a weather delay.
Once we finally got back to action, both offenses would stay silent until the bottom half of the 7th inning. The Guards would get 2 runners on base with walks from Hoskins and Rocchio. Then with 2 outs, Austin Hedges would come through with an infield single on a ball in the hole between the SS and 3rd base, and Hoskins would score after the ball was booted a little bit by Colson Montgomery. Next, Steven Kwan would come to the plate with the score now 3-2. Kwan was able to get a soft liner down the left field line to drive in the tying run. That was all for the Guards in the 7th, as Bryan Hudson was able to strike out Travis Bazzana to end the inning.
After the Guardians tied the game, both Colin Holderman and Cade Smith would throw 1-2-3 8th and 9th innings. But despite getting a runner on base in each inning, the Guards couldn't scratch a run across, and we were headed to extras.
The Guardians would send Erik Sabrowski out for the 10th. He would strike out the first two hitters and retire the last on a flyout to right field, preserving the 3-3 tie and giving the Guards offense a chance to win if they could get the free baserunner home in the bottom half of the inning. It was Travis Bazzana to lead it off with Steven Kwan on as the free baserunner. He would single on a hard ground ball to left, but the left fielder was playing in, so Kwan could only get to 3rd. It was down to Khalil Watson, who, with the infield in, smashed a ground ball right back up the middle. For the second night in a row, the Guardians would walk off the White Sox a

Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) has fallen by 24% in the past week, taking it to a five-year low of $0.16. Sure, cryptocurrency prices have taken a dive across the board, but Cardano has dropped more than 75% in a year, and what's happening goes beyond its price: Cardano's model is failing. In an emotional video, Cardano's founder Charles Hoskinson described the ecosystem as a "toxic **** scape" and called on the community to make major changes to stop Cardano from dying.
When you hear such dire warnings from the face behind a project, it is time to think about selling your crypto. I've held Cardano for years because I believed there's long-term potential in a research-driven crypto that aims to use the blockchain to make a difference in the world. I admire Hoskinson, and I still think Cardano has strong technology and the know-how to solve big problems in the sector. But it is shooting itself in the foot with ongoing infighting and an inability to make key decisions.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Cardano's issues came to a head this week with the news that TapTools, a key **** ytics and price-tracking platform, will cease operations. After the departure of key personnel, the team said the economics of keeping it running no longer worked. It isn't just TapTools; this follows last month's closure of JPG Store, and Hoskinson warned that more projects will fail.
It matters for two reasons. First, project closures reflect a shrinking ecosystem, which is the opposite of what Cardano needs. Having lots of applications, users, and developers is how cryptocurrencies build value and continue to innovate. Cardano is already trailing its competitors in key metrics, like the amount of funds on its network and stablecoin issuance.

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