Steven Kwan’s season has flipped in a hurry, and the Cleveland Guardians are getting the version of him they expected all along.
After a rough first half that dragged on for months, Kwan has gone from looking stuck to looking like his old self at the plate. That turnaround has been strong enough to land him on a list of 10 players who started slowly and then completely changed their fortunes, alongside Fernando Tatis Jr., Alex Bregman, Bryson Stott, Caleb Durbin, Trevor Rogers, Eury Perez, Noah Cameron, Brandon Pfaadt, and Kyle Leahy.
“Kwan has been such a consistently good player in the Majors that it was downright shocking to see him struggle through the end of June. Then, Kwan abruptly turned his season around and has been the second-best player by WAR since July 1, only trailing Pete Crow-Armstrong in that department. He’s posted a ludicrous .370/.473/.464 slash line despite hitting just one home run during that time, and has walked 27 times compared to just 16 strikeouts,” Brent Maguire wrote.
The numbers tell the story clearly. Through the end of June, the two-time All-Star was sitting on a .575 OPS, one home run, and 0.3 WAR across 78 games. Since then, he has jumped to a .937 OPS, added another homer, and produced 2.3 WAR in 40 games.
That kind of turnaround also changed his place in the lineup. Kwan was struggling so badly early on that he lost his leadoff spot in mid-May. Now, he’s hit well enough to reclaim it and looks better than ever right now.
In Other News...
Kyle Manzardo Is Facing A Big Test In Triple A
Kyle Manzardos return to Triple-A has become more than a simple roster move for the Guardians. After Cleveland brought in Nathaniel Lowe, the club sent Manzardo back down, and he has responded with some real production, putting up a .264/.339/.547 line with four homers in 62 plate appearances. The power is still obvious, and it is easy to see why the organization remains invested in his bat.
The bigger question is what comes next, because the strikeouts and contact issues are still part of the picture. Cleveland seems intent on using this stint to sharpen specific areas of his game rather than just letting the results speak for themselves, which makes this assignment feel like an important checkpoint in his development. For a player with his kind of offensive ceiling, the challenge now is turning those flashes into something more consistent before the next opportunity comes. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen Vogt Has A Lineup Problem Cleveland Cant Ignore
Stephen Vogt has spent much of the season mixing and matching, and the result has been a Guardians lineup that has changed constantly from night to night. Cleveland has already used 119 different lineups, a sign of both the roster flexibility Vogt likes and the uncertainty that comes with it. The idea behind the churn is understandable, but as the season wears on, the club looks like one that could use more definition, not less.
For Cleveland, the argument now is for a steadier core over the final stretch, one that gives players clearer roles and the defense a chance to settle in behind it. The suggested answer is less about chasing a perfect order than about finding one that can stick, with a few spots still rotating while the everyday pieces remain in place. Whether Vogt leans that way will say plenty about how he sees this teams best path forward. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Are Climbing But One Doubt Still Follows This Run
The Guardians have turned a late-season surge into real movement in the AL Central, sweeping the Rockies and pulling within 3.5 games of the first-place White Sox. With Jo Adell and Foster Griffin helping fuel the recent run, Cleveland has made itself a factor again at a time when plenty of teams would already be planning ahead. The schedule also looks favorable, which only adds to the sense that this group has a chance to keep climbing if the momentum holds.
Still, the bigger question is whether the deficit is simply too much to erase with 31 games left, especially with Cleveland sitting one game under .500 and tied for the final AL Wild Card spot. The Guardians have bought themselves meaningful hope, but they have not yet played themselves out of the kind of uncertainty that comes with every stretch run. The next few weeks should show whether this surge is the start of something lasting or just a brief push that leaves them on the edge of the race. [Read more 🡒]