CLEVELAND -- Guardians outfield and baserunning coach JT Maguire often describes Steven Kwan as “The Standard,” as a testament to Kwan’s stellar defense in left field and his work ethic behind the scenes.
Just as fitting, Kwan is the gold standard, and he continues to rack up the hardware to prove it. Cleveland’s star left fielder took home his fourth consecutive American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Sunday.
Kwan has joined Kenny Lofton as the only Cleveland outfielders to earn at least four Gold Gloves. Lofton also earned the honor in four straight seasons, from 1993-96. What’s more, Kwan’s streak of winning four consecutive Gold Gloves is the third-longest by a player to start their career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Nolan Arenado and Ichiro Suzuki both won the honor in each of their first 10 big league seasons.
The Guardians had three other Gold Glove finalists this year who did not win: third baseman José Ramírez, utility man Daniel Schneemann and first baseman Carlos Santana.
Kwan was a finalist alongside the Rangers’ Wyatt Langford and the A’s Tyler Soderstrom. The 28-year-old tied for 13th in the Majors (first among corner outfielders) with a +12 Fielding Run Value, which is Statcast’s overall metric to quantify a player’s defensive performance.
Kwan ranked first among all fielders in Defensive Runs Saved (22). He led MLB in outfield assists (13) and prevented seven extra runs by baserunners.
By now, opponents should know they may try to run on Kwan at their own risk. He has a good arm -- his average arm strength ranked in the 68th percentile in 2025 (86.9 mph), according to Statcast. But his magic goes beyond that.
“I don't know if there's one specific area where you can just point out and say, ‘He's the best at that,’” Maguire said of Kwan’s fielding this summer, “because I think he just does everything so well. Obviously, playing balls off the wall. He knows the ballparks better than really anybody.
“Before games, he really stresses playing balls off the wall and seeing how ballparks play and different bounces, different angles. Just from an exchange standpoint, how he gets the ball in so fast. He's got an elite exchange.”
Time and time again, we have seen Kwan perfectly corral a ball to then throw out a baserunner or prevent one from taking an extra base. He has mastered the 19-foot wall at Progressive Field, which is a byproduct of his work behind the scenes.
Consider July 22 against the Orioles. Kwan played a Ramón Urías one-hopper off the left-field wall in Cleveland, and he threw out Urías as he tried to stretch a single into a double.
Or consider April 18, when Pittsburgh’s Enmanuel Valdez hit a drive off the base of the wall in the left-field corner at PNC Park. Kwan snagged the carom on one hop, and he threw out Bryan Reynolds, who attempted to advance from first to third base.
It’s the little things that make Kwan great, as much as the diving catches and the strikes he fires to cut down runners. And along the way, he continues to set the standard in left field.