CLEVELAND — The Guardians have returned home to Cleveland, and their offensive spark plug is finally back with them.
The team announced Friday it has activated left fielder Steven Kwan from the 10-day injured list. The 26-year-old had missed nearly four weeks with a strained left hamstring suffered while running down a fly ball back on May 4, but will be in the lineup tonight against the Washington Nationals batting leadoff.
Already a two-time Gold Glove winner and 2022 American League Rookie of the Year finalist, Kwan's .353 average made him baseball's leading hitter at the time he went down. He does not currently qualify for the top spot due to lacking the minimum number of plate appearances, but is still far out-pacing the official mark of .332 held by Luis Arráez.
With their table-setter sidelined, some feared the Guards would struggle to score runs and potentially slip in the standings. However, the team has more than held its own, going 16-7 since Kwan's injury (including a nine-game winning streak) while averaging five runs per game. Presently, Cleveland sits atop the AL Central by three games and leads the league with 286 runs scored.
Kwan did not suffer any setbacks in his recovery before playing a total of four rehab games with High-A Lake County and Triple-A Columbus. Though he recorded just two hits in those contests, one of them was a homer, and he also scored five times and recorded three walks for a .385 on-base percentage.
To make room for Kwan on the active roster, the Guardians designated fellow outfielder Estevan Florial for assignment. Florial was acquired from the New York Yankees this past offseason in exchange for reliever Cody Morris and has shown tremendous power in the minors, but has struggled to find consistency as a big-leaguer, batting just .173 with three home runs and a .367 slugging percentage in Cleveland. He could still remain with the organization if he clears waivers and accepts an outright assignment to Columbus.