The Cleveland Guardians are streaking, with three consecutive wins and a 24-21 record that puts them atop the AL Central with a 1.5-game cushion over the Chicago White Sox. They are doing it without the usually reliable contributions of one of their best players, Steven Kwan.
Kwan remains an excellent defensive player who has willingly learned another position to help the team put the best possible group of players around him. He has been an offensive black hole this season, though.
In 41 games and 182 plate appearances, Kwan is hitting a mediocre .206/.311/.265 with one home run, two steals, and a 70 wRC+. Typically worth between 3.5 and 4.5 fWAR per season during his career, he has been worth 0.0 to this point in 2026.
Fans are concerned, and so is most of the media in Cleveland. Kwan’s manager, Stephen Vogt, however, keeps showing faith in his struggling star.
“I think we’ve seen some really good signs from Kwani during this 13-game stretch. He’s had a couple of games where he’s gotten a couple of hits and a couple of walks. On Tuesday, his leadoff single was vintage Kwani, taking that splitter to left center field,” Vogt said. “Kwani is one of our best players. We go as he goes.”
The Guardians played 13 games from May 1 to the 13th. That’s the 13 games Vogt is talking about. Over that span, Kwan hit .167/.314/.190 with a 59 wRC+, 41 percent worse than the league average hitter. For reference, his career wRC+ is 109.
Evidently, something’s wrong with Kwan, whether Vogt wants to accept it or not. There haven’t been reports of injury, so it’s likely a mental block or a mechanical thing. In any case, his track record is too great to doubt that he will eventually hit his stride.
There’s no question, however, that his long offensive slump is affecting the team, especially since he is the leadoff hitter. Vogt gave him a day off on Wednesday to clear his head, but the short-term solution appears to be hitting him in the lower part of the lineup for a while while he works through things.
Once he regains his mojo, Vogt could use him at the top of the lineup again, where he belongs.
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