Steven Kwan’s season turned so sharply that his rough opening now feels like a different era.
Back on May 23, he went 0-for-3 against the Phillies and watched his batting average sink to .196. At that point, it wasn’t hard to wonder whether the Guardians had a real problem on their hands. Kwan had spent the first two months of the year looking nothing like the player who had built his reputation on getting on base and setting the table.
Then the hits started coming, and they came in bunches.
He followed that Phillies game with a three-hit performance in the series finale, then added a two-hit day against the Yankees on June 1. In the middle of June, he piled up seven hits over three games against the Pirates. The slump gave way to the version of Kwan Cleveland knows well, and the Guardians started winning again right alongside him.
What looked like a dead-end stretch for both Kwan and the team suddenly became the springboard back into the postseason race.
That turnaround matters because the Guardians are a different offense when Kwan is doing his job. Early in the season, he was getting too many easy outs, and Cleveland even moved him out of the leadoff spot for the first time since his debut in 2022. Since then, the picture has changed dramatically.
He arrives at the batter’s box later today against the Red Sox with the 11th-best on-base percentage in MLB at .378, and the Guardians hold a Magic Number of 2. If he keeps this going, a top-10 finish in on-base percentage is still in play. That would be quite the rebound for a player who spent the season’s first two months among the worst qualified hitters in baseball.
The most striking part is how little Kwan seems to have changed on the surface. The source of the turnaround appears to be more mental than physical, though it also looked like he shifted his approach toward spraying the ball to all fields instead of trying to pull everything.
Whatever the exact cause, the result is obvious. In the 97 games since that hitless day against Philadelphia, Kwan has hit .324, which is tied for the best mark in MLB, and his .410 on-base percentage ranks third.
That kind of production has made him indispensable again at the top of the lineup. When the Guardians open their postseason run, Kwan is going to be there in the leadoff spot, just where they need him. And they’ll be better for it.
In Other News...
Guardians Moved Within Reach Of October After A Win That Got Tense
The Guardians gave themselves another October boost with a fast start and enough steady work from the mound to hold off a late push. Angel Martnez, David Fry and Nathaniel Lowe all helped build the early cushion, and Parker Messick did his part in a five-inning start before the bullpen took over to finish the job.
Tim Herrin, Craig Yoho, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith each had a hand in protecting the lead, keeping Cleveland in control even as the game tightened down the stretch. The win leaves the Guardians with a magic number of two to clinch a playoff spot, and depending on how the other results break, it could shrink to one before long. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Are Suddenly One Step Closer To A Clinch After Another Thriller
The Guardians kept finding ways to survive on September 22, outlasting the Red Sox 3-2 in another tight, late-September game that fit the tone of a team trying to finish the job. Nathaniel Lowe provided the decisive blow with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, while Parker Messick did enough in his start to keep Cleveland in position before the bullpen took over.
Cade Smith finished it off and reached 40 saves on the year, a notable marker for a club that has leaned on its late-inning arm all season. The bigger picture is even better for Cleveland: its magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to two, and the Guardians still sit atop the AL Central as the calendar turns toward the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Vogts Late-Game Guardians Move Is Becoming A Real October Weapon
Travis Bazzanas rookie season has come with the usual growing pains, and for Stephen Vogt, that has meant getting creative when games tighten up late. The Guardians manager has turned to Angel Genao as a defensive replacement in key spots, using his versatility around the infield to help shore up a young roster when the margin for error shrinks. It is the sort of September adjustment contenders make when every clean inning and every sure-handed exchange starts to matter more.
Against the Red Sox, that move paid off in a big way, as Genao made a crucial defensive play that helped close out the win and trim Clevelands magic number to clinch a postseason berth. The contrast between the two young infielders has become part of the clubs late-game equation, with Genao offering the steadier glove right now while Bazzana continues to work through the challenges of his first full season. For a team trying to lock down October, those small swaps can carry outsized weight. [Read more 🡒]