Kwan Top of the World

 

This has been a very big weekend for the AL Central. The Twins have taken 2 games from the Royals in walk-offs. The Tigers and Guardians have been squaring off, and now things have shifted so that the Guardians have the momentum. And the White Sox are even winning games against the Rangers. It's gotten to the point where the Twins, Royals and Guardians are all within a game of each other, and the Tigers' lead on the division has lessened to 3.5 games ahead. 

And even with the mega-streaks in Minnesota or the epic rise of the Tigers, the Guardians are just doing what they always do. Solid contact ball, impressive pitching, some insane bullpen stuff. I don't think these teams have ever felt the need to be flashy, and I don't think being flashy is gonna get them anywhere, so just...paddling ahead with Kwan, Bibee and J-Ram might do the trick for now.

Steven Kwan is one of those players who everyone sort of expected to peter off after his insane come-up in 2022, but he's persisted, and he's remained one of the best pure contact hitters in the game. He's won 3 straight gold gloves, made an ASG start last year, has hit 140+ hits in his three prior seasons and has a current career average of .289. Right now he's hitting .322 with 18 RBIs, 64 hits, 4 homers and 7 steals. The guy is simply...excellent at baseball. In a way that doesn't get valued as much as it should. He's not a huge power guy [though his SLG is currently .442], he's not built like Aaron Judge, he's just a fantastic hitter and an exceptional defensive outfielder. And the Guardians have the kind of team where someone like Kwan can be the hero.

The Guardians are getting things done offensively in wild ways at the moment. Carlos Santana leads the team in RBIs, but not in homers. Kyle Manzardo leads the team in both triples and homers. Daniel Schneemann and Bo Naylor have the same amount of homers as Santana. Gabriel Arias is doing everything that Brayan Rocchio did last year. A 32-year-old Jose Ramirez leads the team in stolen bases. I think about how good this offense was last year, even with Naylor and Gimenez, and without those two the Guardians are still a force. That's the power of the Vogt regime I guess.

The Guardians, once they finish with the Tigers, have to play the Dodgers. Hopefully they're building up enough momentum to go on a nice little run, because another stop-start week might alienate the fanbase further.

Coming Tomorrow- Former #1 overall pick who's playing for an entirely different first place team, and it seems to be working out for him.