Steven Kwan's fantastic second half has helped push the Guardians back into postseason picture

It is often said the baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint. One of its beauties is it takes you along a journey from the cool winds of spring, to the hot and humid nights of summer, to the changing color of the leaves in fall.

Unlike football, you get a true measure of what a team is, as all teams play one another and there is little imbalance in baseball’s scheduling.

Unlike basketball, every game (yes, all 162) matters. Even if the postseason has been expanded in recent years, only six of the 15 teams in each league make the postseason compared to two-thirds of a league that has recently added play-in games.

All that is why it's so impressive for a player to have a good season that spans 162 games and why it's remarkable to have a string of such seasons, and (for those lucky enough to do it for a decade or longer) why it so often results in an induction to the Hall of Fame.

The 2026 iteration of Steven Kwan is the epitome of why 162 games is perfect for a baseball season.

No, Kwan is not a Hall of Fame-caliber player, and no sane person would suggest that. But he is very much an above league-average player, one who has two All-Star appearances in his career, and an elite defender with four Gold Gloves to his name.

The nature of Kwan’s game is bat-to-ball in an almost throwback manner as strikeouts and power have come to dominate this era of baseball. In a bizarre start to the season, however, his bat was nowhere to be found.

This “start,” which is rather generous given its totality lasted more than half of the season, saw Kwan appear to be rather flustered at the plate. He was routinely hitting pop ups, getting jammed up and in and hitting the ball with little authority. 

In March/April, his batting average was .221, followed by a low-point of .188 in May, then slightly improved in June at .224.

But then… something clicked.

Though he was not getting the results he wanted early in the season, there is something to be said for Kwan’s willingness to stick with his approach.

Even though the overall numbers were not there, he still had more walks than strikeouts heading into the All-Star break, which is on par with his BB/K ratio over the course of his career (310/296).

Kwan been scorching hot since the beginning of July, and re-solidified himself atop the Guardians lineup. In July, he slashed .403/.484/.520 for a ridiculous 1.003 OPS.

He has been nearly as good in August, hitting .353 with an OBP of .466, raising his batting average on the season to .274. His .378 OBP is the sixth-best mark in the American League.

This production could not have come at a better time for the Guardians, who sputtered out of the All-Star break but have now caught fire and have a firm hold on the American League's final Wild Card spot.

The division is within reach as well, as the White Sox have cooled off a bit and the Guards sit only 2 1/2 games back (and have a history of sparking late-season divisional comebacks.)

“It felt reminiscent of years before, where it doesn’t matter the lead or that we’re behind," Kwan said after Tuesday's win over the Angels. "We feel confident in our plans, and didn’t try to do too much…”

That confidence will need to remain as the schedule for September gets tough, with all but two series coming against teams currently vying for a postseason spot. 

The good news is the Guards leadoff hitter now seems to be his normal self and will continue to be the launching pad for their offense.

And while it may not have seemed like he would return to the player he typically was through the first few months of the season, it should have seemed obvious it would happen over the course of 162.

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