Steven Kwan Breaks Out as Guardians See the Return of Their Spark Plug

The four-time Golden Glove award winner has been inconsistent throughout 2026, but recently, he has seemed to turn a new leaf.

Jun 12, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians center fielder Steven Kwan (38) safely steals second base against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Game by game, slowly but surely, Steven Kwan is looking more like himself.

Since the start of the 2026 season, the 28-year-old outfielder has endured a rocky stretch. Consistency at the plate has been hard to come by, and even when he has managed to string together a hit or two, the power that can help drive in runs has largely been absent.

But in years past, that inability to bash the ball hadn't been an issue. Kwan was able to impact the game by reaching base at a high rate, grinding through at-bats and drawing walks.

On Friday, June 12, Kwan returned to the form that so many had been accustomed to seeing since he joined the organization back in 2022. In an outing against the Detroit Tigers, one that opened up a must-win three-game weekend series, Kwan delivered a 2-for-4 performance with the go-ahead RBI that would eventually be the game-winner.

"I thought, you know, he made an adjustment in Texas," manager Stephen Vogt said in the postgame press conference. "The ball's been jumping off his bat a lot better, and that was vintage Kwany tonight. Shoot a fastball to left and then get a split kind of up in the zone, drive it to right center.

"Kwany can hit, we know that, and he's definitely trending in the right direction."

Since May 24, which was the team's series finale in Philadelphia against the Phillies, there have been signs that the early-season form he was displaying is fading away.

He is slashing .304/.347/.326 for a .673 OPS, with 14 hits, one double, two RBI, three walks and one stolen base, making an impact in a number of areas. That power still hasn't been fully unlocked, but he is bringing a bit more reliability to the plate. He also has not struck out much, posting just two across 50 plate appearances.

When asked about what the difference has been lately, he said that he couldn't quite pinpoint it, and that maybe it is just how baseball is sometimes.

"I mean, we've kind of been working on a lot of stuff, and it's hard to say if it's chicken or the egg," Kwan said. "I think the biggest thing is just being aggressive on balls in the zone, trying to just get back to like Good flight, good line drives, not overthinking it, not trying to be thinking about where my hands are. I think it's just see ball, hit ball, and I think it helps when you got runners in scoring position too..."

On the year, his batting average has jumped back up to .218 as he remains one of the team's better players at drawing walks as well. He is up to a clip of 35 walks to 27 strikeouts.

"I think it's really easy to overthink, especially when pitchers are so good these days and throwing harder than they ever have," Kwan continued. "It's just kind of getting back to basics."

The Guardians return back to the diamond on Saturday night with an outing set against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. With Kwan out of the lineup, there will be a tough task ahead for the lineup to get going against a guy of his nature.