Five Hundred Runs and a Camp in Carmichael

From Sacramento

On May 15, in his first season with the Cleveland Guardians, Rhys Hoskins scored his 500th career run. He has 514 now, accumulated across 982 games, nine seasons, and three teams — six years in Philadelphia from 2017 through 2022, two in Milwaukee, and this year in Cleveland.

Sacramento State was the only college to offer him a scholarship. He won WAC Player of the Year as a junior, and the Phillies selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, 142nd overall, for a $349,700 bonus. He was a Baseball America Low Class A All-Star in 2015 and a Double-A All-Star the next year. He debuted with the Phillies on August 10, 2017.

Big Fella

The nickname is Big Fella. At 6-foot-3 and 241 pounds, it fits. He was born in Sacramento and attended Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California, where he played baseball, basketball, and football and carried a 4.0 GPA. As a student needing community service hours, he volunteered as a counselor at a Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp. He went back the next year on his own and brought his girlfriend, Jayme.

Through his pro career, Hoskins and Jayme — now his wife — have raised more than $1 million for the MDA. He has memorized the names and personal details of children he met only a handful of times, recognizing kids like Stella Klotkowski in the stands at road games and handing them baseballs. Families have described the bonds as life-changing.

His mother, Cathy, was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was two and died in 2009, shortly before his sixteenth birthday. Both his parents were lawyers. He and Jayme have a daughter, Rory Jane.

In Cleveland, outfielder Chase DeLauter has noted that Hoskins plays chess in the batter's box — a veteran younger hitters lean on for pitcher plans and approach. At 33, Hoskins has appeared in 94 games for the Guardians this season.

Reporting: Cronkite News, The Athletic, ESPN, MLB.com, Wikipedia. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.