Back on May 16, the Cleveland Guardians made an unprecedented move with outfielder Steven Kwan. Manager Stephen Vogt moved Kwan to sixth in the order, which was the first time he would not bat leadoff in almost four years.
The decision was warranted because at the time, Kwan’s batting average was .201. It was a shocking fall for a player who entered the season with a .282 lifetime mark.
Now, midway through August, Kwan is back at the top of the lineup after making a remarkable leap among MLB’s best hitters, sporting the fourth-best OPS since July 1.
“Through June 30, Kwan ranked 153rd out of 154 qualified hitters with a .575 OPS. Since July 1 (and entering Sunday), Kwan ranks fourth out of 171 qualified hitters with a .969 OPS, just ahead of Seiya Suzuki, CJ Abrams and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Kwan has morphed from one of the least productive hitters in the league to one of the most proficient,” Zack Meisel wrote.
Perhaps struggling with the defensive adjustment to playing center field, Kwan’s batting average fell as low as .196 on May 23, when his OPS was .572. Entering play on Tuesday, he is hitting .266 with a .694 OPS, which would still be career lows for a full season.
When he was moved down in May, Kwan had started 571 of his 625 career games batting leadoff, with a .277 average and .731 OPS, according to Cleveland.com. He was a permanent fixture there since June 18, 2022.
He started to return to form while batting seventh in the order, with a .247 batting average but just a .284 slugging percentage. Compare that to his overall post-All-Star break numbers of a .386 batting average and .465 slugging percentage.
Kwan also recently reached a notable milestone when he scored the 400th run of his MLB career. It came on Saturday against the San Diego Padres when he stole home as part of a double steal.
The two-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner may have extended his stay with the Guardians with this elite performance over the past couple of months. A subject of trade rumors based on his contract status as a potential free agent after next season, this could renew talks about an extension that the 28-year-old has long been seeking.
Hopefully, the Guardians overall can rise to the standard Kwan is now setting, as they have fallen into fourth place in the AL Central and to eighth in the AL Wild Card race since the break.
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