Now a qualified hitter, Kwan separating himself at the top

CLEVELAND -- Step aside Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, Steven Kwan has arrived.

On Thursday morning, the MLB batting average leaderboards looked a little different, as Kwan officially became a qualified hitter, meaning his stats finally could be stacked up against everyone else in the league. His name towered over Ohtani and Judge with an average 40 points higher than both of theirs.

A three-hit game with a home run and a bases-loaded walk in the Guardians’ 8-4 victory over the White Sox at Progressive Field that afternoon only created more separation.

“It’s unbelievable to watch that guy take ABs,” Guardians starter Ben Lively said. “Just the confidence level is through the roof. If you’re on the mound against that guy, it’s gotta be a tough go.”

It was almost as if everything the Guardians outfielder had done over the last month had been behind closed doors since he was no longer considered a qualified hitter due to missing a few weeks on the injured list. At times, Kwan's average sat just below .400 and even his OPS rivaled sluggers like Ohtani and Judge. But because it didn’t automatically appear on the leaderboards, it was as if no one knew just how tremendous of a year he was having.

That changed in a span of 24 hours. The process of voting for All-Star starters got more eyes on Kwan’s ridiculous numbers and when he was officially named the starting left fielder for the Midsummer Classic on Wednesday night, more people learned of the legend of Kwan. Then, the next morning, his face and his .360 average populated above all other hitters in the Majors, allowing anyone who stumbles upon a stats page to now clearly see what he’s been able to do.

“That’s really cool,” Kwan said. “I think it’s a bigger indicator that the injury is kind of behind now. That was a big thing that was like, not my identity, but it was a big thing that was on my mind. … It’s nice to see there’s some space between me and the injury.”

It started with a simple leadoff single in the first inning. Then, he continued to increase his career high in homers with his eighth blast of the year in his next at-bat in the third. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth and finished off his Fourth of July celebration with another single to left.

“Everything he does is good,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s got some pop. He puts the ball in play. Runs the bases. Plays Gold Glove defense. Doesn’t strike out. Can bunt for a base hit. What else do you want?”

Kwan was the sparkplug in the victory, but his performance meant even more simply because he’d hit a bit of a rough patch over the last week. In his previous seven games, he went 5-for-28 (.179) with five strikeouts. Just 10 games ago his average was at .390, but he entered the day at .360. However, what’s separated Kwan from everyone else -- and the reason that he has such a big lead in the batting title race -- is because he has yet to allow his scuffles to last longer than a short stint.

“He’s just a pure hitter,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “Like [Wednesday], he didn’t look like himself. Comes right back out today, gets a single the other way, then he hits his homer. When you’re that dialed [in] to who you are as a hitter, you don’t stray from your approach. You stick with it and you know it’s gonna work.

“For any big league hitter, when they get to that point where they know who they are, you’re not going to go on these long runs without hits.”

At the time Thursday’s game ended, Kwan’s average jumped to .367, which was 48 points higher than Ohtani in second place. On top of that, his .962 OPS ranked sixth in the Majors. All while enjoying his 12th three-hit game of the season, which -- you guessed it -- is the most by any big league hitter this year.

“It seems like a normal thing by now,” Guardians catcher Bo Naylor said of Kwan’s multihit games. “It’s super special. He’s just so disciplined with his work. It doesn’t shock me at all the kind of results he’s getting in game just because of how much he prioritizes himself, his mindset and the preparation that’s needed in order to go out there and compete.”