Steven Kwan has five hits, scores thrice in win

Kwan ignited a three-run rally in the first inning with a leadoff walk. He then came around to score the game’s first run on an RBI single off the bat of Jose Ramirez. The 28-year-old outfielder then drove in a run of his own with a two-out RBI single in the sixth that increased the Guardians’ advantage to 4-2. For the season, he’s now slashing .265/.372/.327 with just two homers, 24 RBI and nine stolen bases across 486 plate appearances.

Kwan is hitting .385/.472/.462 since the All-Star break. There’s probably some luck involved there, but it’s evening out all of the misfortune he had in the first half. His bat speed has diminished and he’s probably not going to resume hitting a couple of homers per month, but he’s back to making the most of his skill set.

After popping up a bunt last night, Kwan will get a breather against Mets RHP Nolan McLean. Angel Martínez will man left field. Kwan’s modest power has all but disappeared this year as he’s got just one homer in 430 plate appearances, but he’s still carrying a .362 on-base percentage.

Kwan led off the game with a double over Rays’ right fielder Ryan Vilade, but he never advanced past second base. That would end up being the Guardians’ only hit and best scoring chance in the entire ballgame. For the season, the 28-year-old outfielder is slashing .248/.351/.308 with just one homer, 18 RBI and seven stolen bases in 392 plate appearances.

Kwan will get a breather with tough left-hander Shane McClanahan on the hill for the Rays. David Fry will mat left field in his place and will bat fifth on Friday night at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay.

Over his last 25 games, Kwan is hitting .329/.417/.425 with 10 runs scored and three steals. The power was never really something you were banking on from him, but his run totals should increase now that he has retaken his spot at the top of the order. If you need batting average and runs in your fantasy legaue, Kwan is back on the radar.

Kwan is almost certainly past his peak as a player, but his expected stats have gotten better as the season has gone alone; they were terrible in April, but not nearly as bad in May and June and they’ve continued to trend up in July. The Guardians are still batting him ninth for now, which subtracts from his already limited fantasy ceiling, but there’s a decent chance that he’ll return to the leadoff spot and perform as an adequate fourth or fifth outfielder in mixed leagues the rest of the way.

No surprise as Kwan will be spared from having to face Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. That honor goes to Stuart Fairchild instead. The 28-year-old has put together an abysmal season overall, but he went 2-for-4 with an RBI during Friday’s series opener and is hitting .281 (9-for-32) in nine games since returning from bereavement leave earlier this month.

Kwan has completely collapsed with the bat, so it’s time to find new and more interesting ways to reach base. Alas, catcher’s interference doesn’t help with his OBP. He’s still at a respectable .323 there, but he’s batting .213 and slugging .262. He tried a squeeze bunt tonight, but the pitcher got to it quickly and was able to tag the runner coming down base line. His current hard-hit rate is 8.5 percent. Of course, that’s never been a strength of his, but it’s still less than half of his career mark of 20.4%. To put it in perspective, the only player in the Statcast era to qualify for the batting title and finish with a sub-11 percent hard-hit rate was Billy Hamilton, who came in at 8.5 percent in 2018.

Kwan returns to Cleveland’s lineup, patrolling left field and hitting seventh on Tuesday night against the Yankees, after being away from the club for a couple games on bereavement leave. The 28-year-old has struggled to an underwhelming .207/.329/.259 triple-slash line with 25 runs scored, one homer, 12 RBI and two steals in 234 plate appearances over 54 games.