At some point, the lesson ought to stick: don’t test Steven Kwan.
Yet teams keep doing it, and Kwan keeps making them pay. On Thursday night at Progressive Field, White Sox baserunner Chase Meidroth tried to go from second to third on a deep fly ball to center. He was out by eight feet, another clean reminder that the Guardians outfielder has turned throwing runners out into a habit.
That play pushed Kwan to eight outfield assists this season, and on the latest episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga dug into why opponents still keep taking the bait.
“Right now, Steven Kwan is as deadly and accurate a thrower from the outfield as anybody in baseball,” Noga said after Kwan recorded his eighth outfield assist of the season.
The number matters, but the way he gets there might matter even more. Hoynes pointed out that Kwan didn’t have the kind of easy setup that usually leads to a strong throw.
“He wasn’t like behind the ball or squared up, you know, and coming in,” Hoynes explained. “His momentum wasn’t coming in.
He was coming over from like the side and caught that and he really squared his hips to the runner. And he still made a great online throw.”
That’s what makes the play so striking. Kwan was moving laterally, not charging straight at the target. He still got his body lined up, fired a throw on line, and sent it over Meidroth’s head as the runner came into third standing up without even sliding.
Kwan’s arm has become one of the more surprising parts of his game because it was never the selling point. He’s known for his contact, his plate discipline, his range, and his ability to get on base. The arm was never the headline.
And yet here he is, leading the American League in outfield assists and looking more and more like the kind of outfielder baserunners should avoid challenging.
The real separator is the technique. Kwan’s footwork and body control let him create power and accuracy from awkward spots, and that shows up in the box score every time another runner gets cut down at third. It’s the kind of skill that doesn’t jump off a radar gun, but it keeps showing up in outs.
For the Guardians, those plays carry real weight. Each assist is one less out the pitching staff has to record, one less rally that can keep moving, one less run on the board. For a team that wins so many close games, those are not small moments.
And for everyone else? The message is simple. Stop running on Steven Kwan.
In Other News...
Guardians Rookie Faces More Heat As Rough Lesson Continues
Cooper Ingles growing pains in left field continued against the White Sox, where the Guardians rookie was charged with his second error in two games after dropping a fly ball. The miscue stood out because Ingle is still a catcher by trade and is only beginning to learn the demands of a new position after a recent promotion.
Stephen Vogt has already tried to frame the situation as part of the learning curve, urging Ingle to move past the first mistake and keep playing. For Cleveland, the larger question is how quickly a player with so little outfield experience can settle in while the club keeps asking him to handle a spot that is still very new to him. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Suddenly Have A Breakout Star On The Verge Of Recognition
Parker Messick has gone from an afterthought in spring training to one of the most interesting pitchers in Clevelands season, giving the Guardians a legitimate breakout arm at a time when they needed one. The left-hander has paired steady results with strong underlying metrics, and his 2.85 ERA has put him among the American Leagues better starters while earning attention well beyond the clubhouse.
With All-Star rosters still not finalized, Messick is suddenly in the conversation as a possible first-time selection, which would be a remarkable turn for a pitcher who was not expected to be in the rotation out of camp. He has already turned heads inside the game, and the next step is whether that recognition turns into a trip to the midsummer showcase, something he has made clear would carry real meaning for him. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Seized Control Of The Central In Unbelievable Fashion
Chicago had spent much of the night looking like the sharper team, jumping on Cleveland early and putting the Guardians in a familiar chase mode at Progressive Field. But the home team kept hanging around, and the game turned into the kind of late-inning grind that can change the feel of a season, especially when first place in the AL Central is sitting there for the taking.
Brayan Rocchio delivered the swing that made it happen, a two-run shot in the ninth that sent Cleveland home with a 6-5 win and its second walk-off victory of his career. The result pushed the Guardians into sole possession of first in the division on a percentage basis, another reminder of how quickly a race can flip when a club keeps finding ways to finish. [Read more 🡒]