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Kwan is absent from the Guardians lineup for Friday's series opener against the Rays.
Despite picking up at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games, Kwan will ride the bench Friday. David Fry will take over in left field and bat fifth for Cleveland.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Continues hitting surge
Rotowire
Kwan went 1-for-3 with two walks, a double, an RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Twins.
Kwan continued a surge that began last month and has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games. He's slashed .352/.439/.465 during that stretch and was moved back to leadoff this week. Kwan told Tim Stebbins of MLB.com that he recently altered his swing decisions. Instead of stubbornly waiting for pitches middle-in, he made a decision to take what pitchers were giving him and take pitches on the outer half the other way.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Stays at leadoff
Rotowire
Kwan batted leadoff and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Monday's 13-4 win over the Twins.
Kwan batted leadoff for a second straight contest after spending much of the last two months in the bottom third of the order. He'd been the team's primary leadoff batter the last few seasons, but an early slump in 2026 led to a demotion. However, a recent surge -- Kwan entered Monday on a six-game hitting streak (11-for-21) -- was apparently enough to convince manager Stephen Vogt the veteran outfielder earned another chance atop the order.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Leads off, extends hit streak
Rotowire
Kwan batted leadoff and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Sunday's 7-1 loss to the Pirates. He was also caught stealing.
Kwan's third-inning single plated the Guardians' lone run. The single extended a hit streak to six games, during which Kwan is 11-for-21 (.524) with two doubles, three RBI, two steals and three runs scored. He'd batted ninth in the order in his previous 12 starts before Sunday's promotion. It's unclear if the recent stretch of hitting is what prompted manager Stephen Vogt to put Kwan back at leadoff, or if the manager preferred the veteran instead of rookie Travis Bazzana atop the order against Pittsburgh's ace, Paul Skenes.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Five hits in twin bill
Rotowire
Kwan went 5-for-6 with a walk, a double and three total runs scored across both ends of Saturday's doubleheader split with the Pirates.
The outfielder struggled to begin the season, but over the last month Kwan has begun to find his rhythm at the plate. Across his last 20 games dating back to June 23, he's batting .361 (22-for-61) with three doubles, two triples, three steals, three RBI and eight runs. He's found his comfort zone while mainly batting in the lower third of the order, but Kwan's hot streak might be good enough to jump him back into a more prominent lineup spot.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Out of Wednesday's lineup
Rotowire
Kwan is not in the Guardians' starting lineup against the Twins on Wednesday.
The Twins are sending southpaw Connor Prielipp to the mound, and Kwan has struggled against left-handers this season, slashing .165/.287/.200 with five RBI across 102 plate appearances. With Kwan on the bench, the Guardians will start David Fry, Kahlil Watson and Chase DeLauter in the outfield from left to right.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Hits in six straight
Rotowire
Kwan went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in Friday's 4-3 extra-inning win over the White Sox.
Kwan showed up late in Friday's game, knocking a two-out RBI single to the tie the game in the seventh inning before scoring the game-winning run in the 10th. The RBI was his first in 18 games and just the 14th over 81 contests this season. Kwan continues to battle a season-long slump, but the outfielder has hit safely in six straight contests, going a modest 6-for-18 during that stretch.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Sitting against southpaw Wednesday
Rotowire
Kwan is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.
The Guardians will hold the left-handed-hitting Kwan out of the starting nine for the series finale while southpaw MacKenzie Gore takes the bump for Texas. Kahlil Watson will slide over from his usual spot in right field to replace Kwan in center.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Held out of lineup vs. lefty
Rotowire
Kwan is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the White Sox.
Southpaw Anthony Kay is on the bump for the White Sox, so Kwan will retreat to the bench along with fellow left-handed batters Daniel Schneemann and Kahlil Watson. Kwan is batting a career-worst .206 on the season and has been especially brutal against left-handed pitching, slashing .171/.289/.211 over 90 plate appearances.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Exiting starting lineup
Rotowire
Kwan is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Milwaukee.
The left-handed-hitting Kwan is slashing just .162/.284/.203 versus lefty pitchers this season, and this is the fifth time over the last seven contests that he's been out of the lineup against a southpaw (in this case, Shane Drohan). David Fry will handle left field and Stuart Fairchild will play center field for the Guardians.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Beginning on bench Saturday
Rotowire
Kwan isn't in the starting lineup Saturday against Detroit.
The lefty-hitting Kwan will get a breather with the Tigers sending southpaw Tarik Skubal to the mound. Kwan has a meager .525 OPS against lefties this season as opposed to a .622 OPS versus righties, and he's been out of the lineup in two of the past three games -- both against southpaw starters.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Delivers game-winning run
Rotowire
Kwan went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Friday's 3-2 win over Detroit.
Kwan gave the Guardians a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning with a run-scoring single, which turned out to be the game-winning knock. Since coming off the bereavement list earlier this month, Kwan is batting .281 (9-for-32) with five runs scored over nine games.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Held out against lefty
Rotowire
Kwan is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
The Guardians will roll out a right-handed-heavy lineup to counter Yankees southpaw Carlos Rodon in the series finale, so Kwan will take a seat Wednesday along with fellow lefty hitters Chase DeLauter and Kyle Manzardo. Cleveland will go with David Fry in left field in Kwan's stead.
Not much went right for the Guardians, but Kwan's two-hit effort continued a positive stretch for the slumping outfielder. This was his fourth multi-hit performance over the last 10 games. Kwan has gone 12-for-35 (.343) with six runs scored during that stretch.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Records steal in loss
Rotowire
Kwan went 2-for-3 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 3-2 loss to Texas.
Kwan's season-opening slump has impacted his role on the team in various ways. He's no longer leading off, and Friday's steal was just his third a little more than a third of the way through the season. He's had double-digit steals in all four previous MLB seasons but is now on pace for fewer than 10. While the slump hasn't cost the left-handed batter starts against southpaws yet, Kwan was pinch hit for in the ninth inning against the left-handed Jacob Latz. He's batting just .176 against southpaws in 2026.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Contributes immediately
Rotowire
Kwan started in left field and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Tuesday's 9-4 win over the Yankees.
Kwan made an impact in his first game back from a stay on the bereavement list. He was back in what has now become a familiar spot -- seventh in the batting order. The erstwhile leadoff hitter lost that job earlier this season under the weight of a season-opening slump. Since being dropped in the order, Kwan has gone 10-for-38 with a double, 11 walks, two RBI and nine runs scored over 13 contests.
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Guardians' Steven Kwan: Activated, starting Tuesday
Rotowire
The Guardians reinstated Kwan (personal) from the bereavement/family medical emergency list, and he's starting in left field and batting seventh Tuesday against the Yankees, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
The 28-year-old stepped away from the team Thursday to be with his family for personal reasons, but he's rejoined the Guardians for Tuesday's series opener in the Bronx. In the four games prior to his absence, Kwan went 5-for-14 with two walks, one RBI and two runs scored. He's without an extra-base hit in his past eight contests and is slugging just .259 through 234 plate appearances this year.
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