The first-place 38-19 Cleveland Guardians are in the midst of a favorable stretch of their schedule and last night were blessed with the return of outfielder Steven Kwan, who stepped right back into his usual spot atop of the lineup.
Kwan returned with a bang and went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored, and his teammates couldn’t be happier to have him back leading the charge as the team aims to create some breathing room in the AL Central.
Fellow outfielder Tyler Freeman was clear about how happy he was to see Kwan back in the lineup after the game, simply saying, “He’s an animal.”
"He's an animal."
Tyler Freeman describes what it means to have Steven Kwan back in the lineup.#ForTheLand | @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/w6x7RAimw6
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) June 1, 2024
Freeman added that “he can take as much time off as he wants, he’s gonna wake up and get three hits a game” and noted that Kwan’s return brings an energy to this team that it lacked when he was on the injured list for the past month.
With his return performance, Kwan upped his batting average for the season to .365 and raised his OPS to .924, and his average would lead the league by a significant margin if he had enough at-bats to qualify.
Kwan had been out since May 4th, and guys like Freeman and David Fry filled in admirably in his absence, but the team is thrilled to have him back as he is irreplaceable in the long term.
With one of the best leadoff hitters in the league back in action, the Guardians have everything they need to keep the ball rolling and start racking up wins over this favorable stretch of games they have on tap in June.
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