Cleveland Guardians outfield leads all of baseball in unexpected category

When it comes to how the Cleveland Guardians outfield has been discussed this year, the focus has mostly been on the offense they have received. While offense is important, there is another aspect that must be considered - the contributions they make while out in the field. It is this area that has put Cleveland's group of outfielders ahead of everyone else in one specific category.

Entering play on Thursday, May 15th, the Guardians lead all of baseball in outfield assists with 16. A pretty impressive feat, considering there have been more than a handful of defensive gaffes from a few members that make up this group.

Steven Kwan has the most outfield assists on the Guardians with six, which actaully just so happens to be the major league at this moment in time. This is to be expected from Kwan, as he led the American League in 2023 with 10 outfield assists and could have set a new career high last season had he not missed a decent sized before finishing with nine. The three-time Gold Glove winner has proven to be an elite defender before and it looks like he is well on his way to doing so again in 2025.

Angel Martinez, Jhonkensy Noel, Nolan Jones, and Lane Thomas each have two outfield assists on the year, which brings the total up to 14. Having one-third of the number of assists is not necessarily surprising for most of this group, considering Kwan has played 355 innings in the field this year, while Jones (232), Martinez (217.2 - outfield innings only), and Noel (178) have had far fewer chances to record an assist.

Thomas, meanwhile, has played in only 13 games and is currently sidelined with an injury. This makes it pretty easy to imagine Thomas having a number closer to Kwan's if he were healthy, but it could also result in the team total being similar as a result of his playing time coming at the cost of someone else's.

The Guardians having an outfield capable of throwing out runners is going to be of great benefit to them over the course of a season and a potential postseason run. This is a trait that teams that go on deep playoff runs almost always have, and that is something that should bode well for the Guardians in the coming months. There is still a way to go before this season is over, but it certainly seems like this Guardians team is doing a lot of the little things that can make a big difference come October, with their MLB-leading 14 outfield assists being a picture-perfect example of exactly that. The only left to do is let everything all play out and see who can separate themselves from the rest of the pack, a task the Guardians are hoping to accomplish by season's end.