The Guardians placed American League batting leader Steven Kwan on the injured list this afternoon. Testing revealed the underrated left fielder suffered an “acute” strain of his left hamstring, tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. Kwan is expected to be sidelined for about a month.
It is tough news given Kwan’s scorching start to the season. The left-handed hitter has turned in a .353/.407/.496 batting line over 145 plate appearances. Kwan has walked as often as he’s gone down on strikes (11 times apiece). It looked to be a massive rebound after he had a league average .268/.340/.370 slash in his second big league campaign. Paired with his characteristically elite left field defense, Kwan has been one of the sport’s most valuable players through six weeks.
The silver lining is that Cleveland has a high-upside replacement stepping into the lineup. The Guards promoted top prospect Kyle Manzardo as the corresponding move for Kwan’s IL placement. Manzardo should get everyday run at designated hitter after hitting .303/.375/.642 to start the season at Triple-A Columbus. Estevan Florial, who has been Cleveland’s primary DH, should see the majority of the left field work in Kwan’s absence. That was the arrangement Stephen Vogt ran in this evening’s 2-1 win over the Tigers. (Manzardo struck out in his first three big league at-bats.)
Cleveland’s outfield injuries aren’t exclusive to the major league level. Top prospect Chase DeLauter has been diagnosed with a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot, the team announced over the weekend (link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). The 22-year-old is going to see a specialist to weigh his treatment options.
This is unfortunately not unfamiliar territory for DeLauter, whom the Guardians selected 16th overall two years ago.. He also suffered a fracture in that foot over the 2022-23 offseason. That required surgery and prevented him from making his season debut until early June. DeLauter tore through High-A pitching when he returned, hitting .366/.403/.549 in 42 games. He earned a late-season bump to Double-A and was widely regarded as a Top 50 minor league talent going into this year.
DeLauter continued to rake in Spring Training, connecting on four homers while hitting .520 in 13 exhibition games. That didn’t carry over into his first few weeks at Double-A Akron, as he was off to a .197/.296/.295 start over 71 plate appearances. That’s a small sample in a cold early-season setting, so it likely wasn’t of much concern to the organization. The potential for another extended injury absence — particularly with a second foot injury — is more worrisome, though it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to rehab without surgery this time around.
It sucks when someone is playing their best, then is forced out of the lineup by an injury.
Hamstring injuries are tricky. It is very easy to aggravate it if not careful.
Kwan can miss 4 weeks in 2 weeks. He’s that efficient.
I feel bad for him. He was having a great season!
WILL SOMEONE TRADE SOME HITTiNG TO THE TIGERS. ANYBODY THAT CAN NOT SUCK
Isn’t Riley Greene good enough for the tigers?
Hey at least colt keith is… uh… a top prospect
Yea according to Northeast ohio guardians fans kwan was only going to be on IL for 10 days and be off it. Memo to these fans. Hamstring pull last 4 to 6 weeks or more.
Nobody assumed Kwan is going to be out for 10 days. Any injured player requiring less than 60-days recovery will go on the 10-day IL so you didn’t tell us anything new.
?
Big blow to the Indians lineup. Guy’s raking with a wRC+ of 163.
Trout might beat him back.
Cleveland lost their Kwan.
But not their Yin.
Kwan on most teams would be back in 4 weeks or less. On Cleveland’s team and their slow-play methods, 8 weeks minimum. As far as DeLauter, Cleveland will shut him down for the year. It’s how they do it. They don’t want him to be hurt long-term. But if they keep shutting prospects down early year after year, the lack of playing time will stunt them even worse then not allowing them to come back after an injury.