Guardians keep leading Steven Kwan off, but the numbers say it's time for change
This hasn't been pretty at all.
Guardians keep leading Steven Kwan off, but the numbers say it's time for change originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . A leadoff hitter's primary objective is to get on base.
Even last season, Cleveland Guardians leadoff man Steven Kwan struggled with that more than he had in the rest of his career. And this season? Oof, it hasn't been pretty.
Kwan keeps leading off, but it might be time for a change. This stat from former TV broadcaster Bryan Shaw (not former Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw) sums it up: Since May of 2025, Steven Kwan is 143rd out of 145 qualified hitters in OPS... ahead of Josh Lowe and KeBryan Hayes For 2026 alone, he ranks 165th out of 177 players ā Bryan Shaw (@WxShaw) May 11, 2026 MORE: MLB's 3-inning save rule is trending There's a lot of ways to do this, though.
Kwan's career-low on-base percentage was the . 330 he had last year. So far this season, he's at just .