The 2024 Cleveland Guardians offense is much, much better than last year’s hapless unit.
It all starts at the top, with leadoff hitter Steven Kwan.
The Gold Glove-winning left fielder is also a phenomenal contact hitter and proves it day in and day out.
After missing 23 games with a hamstring injury in May, he isn’t a qualified hitter, which means he can’t opt for the batting title as things stand today, Monday afternoon.
Things, however, stand to change soon.
Very soon, according to a Guardians insider.
“With five plate appearances in Cleveland’s game Tuesday against the White Sox, Steven Kwan will statistically qualify for the MLB lead in batting average,” Cleveland.com’s Hayden Grove tweeted.
With five plate appearances in Cleveland's game Tuesday against the White Sox, Steven Kwan will statistically qualify for the MLB lead in batting average. #Guardians
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) July 1, 2024
Since the 1957 campaign, MLB established that a player should have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per scheduled game in his league, or a total of 502 over the course of a 162-game season, to qualify for the batting title.
Why is this relevant for Kwan?
Well, the current American League leader in batting average is Los Angeles Angels’ Luis Rengifo, with a .317 mark.
That leads both leagues, actually.
Kwan is currently at .368, more than .50 points ahead of the competition.
When he accumulates enough plate appearances to qualify, he will become MLB’s batting average leader by a mile and will be in a position to earn his first batting title if he keeps up the good form and if he doesn’t miss significant time with another injury.
Kwan has been a godsend to the Guardians’ offense, and he will soon lead an exciting category.
NEXT: Jhonkensy Noel Opens Up About His Performance With Guardians
