Steven

Kwan

Kwan won a Gold Glove this year and hit .272/.330/.374 with 11 home runs and 21 steals in 156 games. His modest power surge from 2024 didn’t quite carry over, nor did his nearly .300 batting average, but he tied his career high in steals and remains a very solid outfielder.

Those two are joined by Steven Kwan in the outfield. Other AL winners include pitcher Max Fried, catcher Dillon Dingler, first baseman Ty France, second baseman Marcus Semien, third baseman Maikel Garcia, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and utilityman Mauricio Dubón. Semien getting the nod over Andrés Giménez seems like the biggest upset, though Giménez, who won the previous three years, did miss a bunch of time. Dingler over Alejandro Kirk also rates as a modest surprise.

Kwan started a three-run rally in the sixth inning with a bunt single off of Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal. He ultimately scored on an infield single off the bat of Jose Ramirez. Kwan then doubled with two outs in the seventh inning and scored on a two-run single by Daniel Schneemann. With his two-hit attack, the 28-year-old is now hitting .277/.336/.383 with 11 homers, 55 RBI and 21 stolen bases across 672 plate appearances.

Kwan also had two hits, a walk and a steal in the first game today, though despite reaching five times in total, he never did score a run today. The four-RBI game was the fourth of his career.

Kwan was on base three times and scored twice against the Rays on Friday. The 28-year-old outfielder is a solid producer with a .274 average, 70 runs scored, 10 home runs, 14 steals and 46 RBI. Kwan’s average is down from his .292 average last year and that’s stopped him from having a repeat of last year.

Kwan spearheaded a relentless offensive onslaught against Boston’s bullpen in this one as they scored seven runs over the first two frames to ostensibly put the contest away early. The 27-year-old table-setter, who has been mired in a weeks-long tailspin at the dish, reached base safely in three of his five plate appearances out of the leadoff spot. It’s encouraging to see some signs of life.

Kwan’s slump is over two months old at this point, and it’s actually getting worse; in his last 13 games, he is batting .189 and is even 0-for-2 stealing bases. Playing through an injury would seem to be the obvious explanation, because it’d be very discouraging if he were performing like this while healthy.

After watching Xavier Edwards and Jakob Marsee homer in the top of the first, Kwan hit a lead-off blast in the bottom half of that inning. That wouldn’t be nearly enough though as the Marlins poured on 13 runs in total. The homer was Kwan’s 10th, just four off his career-best 14 from last season.

Kwan had an .813 OPS through the end of May, but he came in at .683 in June and .699 in July and he’s at just .396 through 10 games this month. He’s also gone 37 straight games without a steal after collecting 11 in his first 78 games. There’s a chance for him to turn it around, but he’s been a mediocre player for the Guardians and a fantasy bust of late.

Kwan led off the fourth inning with a single off of Clay Holmes and came around to score the Guardians’ first run on an RBI knock off the bat of Kyle Manzardo. He then delivered the biggest hit of the night with a go-ahead two-out RBI single off of Tyler Rogers in the seventh that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. With his two-hit attack, the 27-year-old professional hitter is now slashing .285/.346/.400 with nine long balls, 39 RBI and 11 stolen bases on the season.