CLEVELAND -- It has been nearly four years since Steven Kwan slotted anywhere other than the leadoff spot in the Guardians’ starting lineup. Amid Kwan’s sluggish start to the season at the plate, manager Stephen Vogt has made a change.
Kwan was moved down to the No. 6 spot in Cleveland's lineup for Saturday’s 7-4 win over the Reds at Progressive Field. It marks the 28-year-old’s first start not in the No. 1 spot since June 18, 2022, when he slotted eighth. Kwan went 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
Daniel Schneemann drew his second start of the season in the leadoff spot.
“I don't want to hurt the team in any way,” Kwan said. “I think Vogter was just respecting me [in previous weeks] and wanting to keep things the same. But I think it's probably been a couple weeks coming, so I have no problem with it.”
Kwan has struggled to find a rhythm offensively through the first seven weeks of the season. The two-time All-Star, who has been one of the game's steadiest presences atop the order since his rookie season in 2022, entered Saturday with a .201/.308/.258 slash line through 42 games.
Kwan entered Saturday with an 11.2 percent strikeout rate this season, a stellar figure that ranked in the 96th percentile in the Majors, but is significantly up from 2025 (8.7 percent). His hard-hit rate (10 percent) also has seen a steep decline from ‘25 (19.3 percent).
Kwan’s average exit velocity this season is also down, from 86.2 mph in 2025 to 82.3 mph in ‘26. He has long been an elite hitter with a lower average exit velocity, but that also is a noticeable decline this year.
Vogt noted the hope is that moving Kwan down will help get him going, given he can put his leadoff man approach on the back burner. He's also been productive with runners in scoring position this year, slashing .294./405/.324 in 44 plate appearances, compared to a .183/.286/.250 slash line in 119 plate appearances with nobody on base.
“I definitely don't think this is a permanent change,” Vogt said. “I think we all know that when Steven Kwan’s at his best and he's in the leadoff spot, that's when we're at our best and that's the goal."
Kwan expressed confidence he'll turn things around, but even he's thought about his status atop the order in recent weeks. He said he feels “really good" physically, and said he’s been working on his mechanics, approach and overall strategy at the plate.
Of course, as Kwan said, he wouldn’t be in this position right now if he had the answer to his struggles. Vogt said there's been some elements of timing, pitch selection and mechanics. There's also truth that Kwan has been pitched tough at times. Entering Saturday, 23.8 percent of the pitches he'd seen this season were located in the two further most up-and-away zones (fifth highest in MLB among left-handed hitters).
Hitting coach Grant Fink said the Guardians have had conversations with Kwan about being more aggressive early in counts. A hitter has more leverage at that point than with two strikes, and Kwan has fallen into a ton of two-strike spots. This season, 10.2 percent of his plate appearances have even ended in an 0-2 count, which is up from 7.6 in ‘25.
Kwan entered Saturday hitting .105 in 0-2 counts (2-for-19), after he hit .245 (13-for-53) in them last year.
“Usually when you're hacking first pitch, you're looking for something close,” Fink said. “Most of these [pitches] have been away. They've thrown him really well, and he's had some [tough] luck with that. … He's looking to try to figure out ways to get them to throw him back to his hot zones.”
Kwan noted it felt like he was getting little to hit through the Guardians’ first few series, but at this point is getting mistakes that he isn’t taking advantage of.
“That's where the frustration comes,” Kwan said. “If a guy executes his pitches, tip the cap. Pitchers drive nice cars too. But there's some meat on the bone there, where I should be taking advantage of them.”
Vogt said the Guardians are going to move multiple guys in and out of the leadoff spot. It doesn't sound like Travis Bazzana (who entered Saturday with a .406 on-base percentage in 15 games) is an immediate candidate. Vogt likes Bazzana's ability to get on base and drive others in from the Nos. 5-7 spots.
"Do I think Travis could be a leadoff hitter in his future?" Vogt said. "Absolutely. But right now I really like him in that 5-6-7, range, and I feel like that fits our team really well."