Steven Kwan’s incredible month has turned Guardians hardest 2027 decision into clear no-brainer

On June 27th, Steven Kwan went 0-for-4 in the Guardians’ 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners. With the scoreless effort, his batting average dropped to .209 and his OPS fell to .574. At the time, that was the second-lowest OPS in baseball behind Salvador Perez. 

Not only was he not getting on base, but he’s recorded just 12 multi-hit games. It got so bad that the Guardians moved Kwan out of the leadoff spot, which seemed blasphemous at the beginning of the season. 

Not only were Kwan’s struggles impacting the Guardians’ short-term roster picture, but it looked like it could also impact their long-term future given Kwan still has one more year of arbitration left. 

Coming into the season it seemed like a lock that the Guardians would keep Kwan in their offseason plans, whether it be via arbitration (assuming it doesn’t get taken away in the lockout) or a trade.

But those struggles made it seem like there was a legitimate chance Cleveland would be forced to consider non-tendering him after the season. 

That seems like ancient history now, however, as Kwan's spent the past month and a half looking like one of the best hitters in baseball. Even if that production hasn’t led to the Guardians winning a ton of games, it’s turned the Guardians’ upcoming decision about Kwan’s future into a no-brainer. 

Steven Kwan has been the Guardians best hitter for more than a month

It’s hard to really overstate how good Kwan has been since that hitless performance against the Mariners at the end of June. He’s posted a .374 batting average in 35 games since (the second-best mark in MLB in that span) along with a .451 on-base percentage (also the second-best). 

He’s recorded 11 multi-hit games, and just finished up a series against the White Sox where he went 6-for-15 while hitting his second home run of the season. 

That homer is the perfect Kwan swing, as he used his quick hands to get around on a breaking ball over the plate to pull a ball into the seats. 

Kwan’s bat speed and barrel rate both rank in the bottom percentile in MLB (which is how it’s been since the start of his career), but that has never mattered thanks to him being able to dictate the strike zone thanks to strong whiff rate, chase rate and strikeout rate. 

He’ll never consistently hit the ball hard, but his heater showed just how impactful he can be by peppering hits all over the outfield.

His heater has also pushed him to the Guardians’ second-most impactful player by measure of bWAR (3.1) and the second-most impactful hitter by measure of fWAR (2.2). 

He’s also been worth six Outs Above Average in the outfield, which is just another reminder of just how impactful he is in every way. 

The Guardians’ front office held off on trading Kwan at last year’s deadline and the Winter Meetings because they thought he’d be more impactful to them as a player on their roster compared to a trade piece. 

While it initially looked like that was a miscalculation, Kwan’s shown just how good he can be, and why he’s a lock to be on the Guardians’ roster in 2027. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow