Kyle Manzardo sits against southpaw on Friday

Playing mostly against lefties lately, Hoskins was hitting .179/.306/.376 in 317 plate appearances. David Fry will assume his roster spot and his role.

Manzardo has been limited to mostly facing right-handed starters and the Guardians are going to roll with newly acquired Nathaniel Lowe in that role at first base for the final two months. The 26-year-old former top prospect heads back to the minors after hitting .215/.306/.378 with 13 homers and 39 RBI in 356 plate appearances over 102 games this season. He’s simply not a fantasy-relevant option at first base anymore.

The Guardians were held to just three hits on the night, and it was the RBI single by Hoskins in the bottom of the first inning that gave them their only run on the evening. It was the 34th RBI of the season for Hoskins, who got the start over Kyle Manzardo with a lefty on the mound for the Diamondbacks.

This was a big game for Manzardo who hasn’t had many of those so far this season. He did well to sit back and let Brady Singer implode in what became a four-run fifth inning by drawing the first of two bases loaded walks. Then, he hit a long home run in the seventh that helped lengthen the Guardians’ lead. At 425 feet, it was his second longest homer on the season and his second blast in three games. Manzardo’s starting spot may be tenuous with the trade deadline coming up and his disappointing .681 OPS on the season, but there’s a chance the Guardians look to upgrade different parts of the roster and leave first base to him.

Manzardo was 4-for-26 with no extra-base hits and an 11/0 K/BB with the bases loaded in his career before taking Chase Burns deep in the first inning today. The Guardians went on to lose the 4-0 lead, falling behind 5-4 in the fourth, but they manufactured single runs in the fifth and eighth to pull this one out. Manzardo is batting .211/.300/.367 with 12 homers in 340 plate appearances this season, and his strikeout rate has jumped from 25 percent last year to 32 percent right now. He came through today, but his short- and long-term future as a platoon starter should be very much in doubt.

Both came off Joe Ryan. Hoskins, who has started over Kyle Manzardo in two of the Guardians’ last three games, is just 5-for-30 this month, but four of those hits have been homers. He’s batting .182/.314/.387 on the season. His role figures to be reduced again once José Ramírez and Angel Martínez return from the injured list.

Manzardo was hitless again on Sunday, going 0-for-3. In three games since the All-Star break, he’s 0-for-9 with five strikeouts. He’s yet to hit a home run in 14 games in July. Manzardo’s average is down to .203 with a .649 OPS. He’s not worth rostering in most fantasy leagues at this point.

Hoskins provided the lone run of the game for the Guardians with a solo shot off Taj Bradley in the second inning. The 33-year-old has been able to pick up eight homers over the first half of 2026, and he’s driven in 30 runs over 92 games. There’s still the occasional reminder of Hoskins’ pop, but the .180/.319/.359 slash is more indicative of what kind of player he now is. Respectfully.

Manzardo’s home run was his ninth of the season. He hit a two-run shot off Spencer Arrighetti in the third inning. It’s his second home run in the last three games. Manzardo is now 14-for-47 (.297) with four home runs and nine RBI in 15 games in June. He’s worth consideration in most fantasy leagues given his recent production and more opposing right-handed starting pitchers on the Guardians’ schedule next week.

Hoskins went down and got a Tatsuya Imai slider that was below his knees and yanked it way over the left field fence. That was his first home run in over two weeks as he’s been stuck in a horrible slump in June, going just 6-for-43 so far this month. The Guardians will need his bat to wake up after a third of their starting lineup all wound up on the injured list this past week. That lack of competition will likely keep Hoskins’ starting job safe, for now.