The Cleveland Guardians are enjoying the good times.
As of Monday afternoon, they lead the AL Central with a 22-12 record and just called up one of the fans’ favorite prospects, Kyle Manzardo.
Unfortunately, the celebration isn’t quite complete because their star left fielder and leadoff hitter Steven Kwan will be out for a while.
“Steven Kwan has an acute left hamstring strain and is expected to miss four weeks,” Guardians insider Zack Meisel tweeted.
Steven Kwan has an acute left hamstring strain and is expected to miss four weeks.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) May 6, 2024
Even if Kwan’s injury led to Manzardo’s promotion, losing the former for a month (perhaps even more) is definitely not ideal.
Kwan got hurt during Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels while making a defensive play.
He left that game and didn’t play on Sunday, a rare sight considering he is usually the starting left fielder and the first hitter in the batting order.
The Guardians will have to get used to playing without their spark-plug for at least a month.
Kwan, as of Monday, is hitting .353/.407/.496 with a .903 OPS.
He has scored 28 runs and logged 47 hits, homering three times and stealing three bases.
Having him on base more than 40 percent of the time really makes things easier for the run producers of the lineup.
The reason why Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor both have so many RBI is because Kwan is an ever-present threat on the bases.
He is truly one of the top leadoff hitters in the American League and will definitely be missed for as long as he is gone.
Having Manzardo around definitely makes things easier, but he is not as accomplished as Kwan and doesn’t have the same skillset.
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