Steven

Kwan

Kwan is still without a hard-hit ball in 22 at-bats this year, but he has mustered seven hits anyway. With his bat speed and his foot speed decreasing, he’s likely past his peak both for the Guardians and as a fantasy outfielder. Still, he should offer some mixed-league value anyway,

Kwan hasn’t started a regular season game in center field since his rookie year. He slid to that spot exactly one time last season and played there a good bit during spring training ahead of this season, hinting that this was something the Guardians were considering. He’s an exceptional outfielder so there’s no reason to think he can’t be at least passable there. Kwan playing center will open up left field for CJ Kayfus in this game as the Guardians try to get some more thump in their lineup.

The 33-year-old slugger is expected to be a regular against left-handed pitching for the Guardians, but he’s in there against a right-hander as well on Opening night. If he’s able to stay healthy and regain his power stroke, he could wind up providing some mixed league viability. Here’s the full lineup that manager Stephen Vogt will use against Logan Gilbert and the M’s on Thursday: Steven Kwan (LF), Chase DeLauter (RF), Jose Ramirez (3B), Kyle Manzardo (DH), Bo Naylor (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Daniel Schneemann (CF), Gabriel Arias (SS) and Brayan Rocchio (2B).

Kwan had totaled two homers in 98 career spring training games prior to today, when he took Ryan Bergert and Nick Mears deep in back-to-back at-bats. The 28-year-old appeared to be a likely choice to replace Corbin Carroll on Team USA’s WBC roster before Roman Anthony got the nod instead. He’s 6-for-21 this spring.

Kwan is a Gold Glove winner in left field, but moving to center field could help the Guardians put their best offense on the field. That would open up left field for George Valera with Chase DeLauter playing right field. All three bat left-handed, so the alignment would obviously change versus left-handed pitchers, but this feels like a likely outcome if Kwan looks good enough in center field.

Greene would be an interesting choice; he was invited to play for Puerto Rico in the tournament but decided to turn down the opportunity. Given that Team USA has Aaron Judge in right and Byron Buxton and Pete Crow-Armstong in center, replacing Carroll with a natural left fielder makes sense. Anthony might be the most fun option, but Kwan would make a lot of sense with his contact ability and plus defense.

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.