Steven Kwan hit a clean round number in a messy way Saturday, and the Cleveland Guardians outfielder had every reason to enjoy it.
In the bottom of the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres, Kwan stole home for his second run of the game. That run gave him 400 for his major league career, a milestone that landed in the box score with a little help from the chaos on the bases.
The play itself wasn’t the kind of steal of home that lives forever in highlight reels. With runners on first and third, Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter tried to swipe second. Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth then dropped the throw from his catcher and fired wildly to third with Kwan coming home, which is how the scoring ruling wound up crediting Kwan with the steal.
It will still count, and Kwan can tell it however he wants years from now. More importantly, it marks a significant checkpoint for a player whose season had taken a sharp turn earlier in the year.
At one point, Kwan was buried in an extended slump and saw his batting average fall below .200 in mid-May. That stretch eventually pushed him out of the leadoff spot, the place where he had spent most of his career and where he had scored at least 80 runs in each of his first four seasons.
Since the All-Star break, though, Kwan has caught fire. That surge sent him back to the top of the order, and he has scored 21 runs since July 1, bringing his season total to 54.
The Guardians have not gotten much lift from that rebound. They are 9-19 since the break and have been shut out five times since July 25, including twice in their last four games.
Cleveland will take on the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday sitting 5.5 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and eighth in the AL Wild Card race.
In Other News...
Gabriel Arias Just Got Another Big League Lifeline
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What makes this latest stop especially interesting is the roster squeeze that comes with it. Arias is out of minor league options, so Chicago cannot simply stash him away for insurance if the fit is not perfect. He has to stay on the major league roster unless the Cubs take the risk of designating him again and he gets through waivers, which leaves his immediate future tied to how aggressively they want to use him in the middle infield. [Read more 🡒]
Former Guardians Prospect Just Made Cleveland Revisit An Uncomfortable Trade
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For Cleveland, it also turned into a reminder of the trade that sent Wilkinson away, especially because he lined up against a pair of familiar faces from his High-A Lake County days. Angel Genao and Travis Bazzana were among the batters he handled in that outing, a small detail that only sharpened the sense that the Guardians were watching a player they once developed begin his career somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Zach Plesac's Latest Baseball Chapter Is A Tough Reminder For Cleveland Fans
Zach Plesacs baseball journey has taken another turn, and for Cleveland fans it serves as a reminder of how quickly a once-promising pitching career can drift from the big leagues. The former Guardians right-hander has already been through stops with the Angels and several independent and minor league clubs, keeping his professional life alive well beyond the familiar settings where he first made his name in Cleveland.
Now in the American Association, Plesac has found himself in some unfamiliar roles as he keeps chasing another chance to stick. His latest chapter has even included time in the field, and a small offensive contribution in one of those games showed just how far his path has stretched from the mound-only profile most fans remember. [Read more 🡒]