Outfielder Steven Kwan left Saturday’s game with hamstring tightness, he went for an MRI on Sunday, and was subsequently placed on the 10 day IL by the Guardians. In a corresponding move, the Guardians will promote slugger Kyle Manzardo from AAA prior to the start of Mondays game against the Detroit Tigers.

let’s talk about kwan

As of this writing the results of the MRI are not yet known. Therefore, you may be asking, Why make a move before you know the results? Kwan has had multiple hamstring issues in his career, especially in college and in the minors. So, even if the test come back clean, Cleveland has more than likely already decided to take it slow and proceed with caution.

Steven has been on fire, and has been the cattails for the resurgence in the Guardians offense that has propelled them to their current 22-12 record and an impressive +43 run differential. In 145 plate appearances Kwan is hitting a slash line of .353/.407/.496. He also leads the league in two different categories; hits at 47 and the afore mentioned batting average of .353. Obviously he is very important so, I don’t blame them for pumping the brakes and placing him on the shelf for ten days.

let’s introduce kyle

Well, Guardian fans Kyle Manzardo is currently in AAA Columbus where he has a slash line of .303/.375/.642. He has accumulated 128 plate appearances with the Clippers hitting 9 home runs, with 33 hits, and driving in 20 RBI’s. The left handed hitting 23 year old is ranked as the Guardians #2 prospect while MLB Pipeline has him ranked 52nd and Baseball America has him 87th on their top 100 baseball prospects lists respectively.

where did he come from?

Kyle was the player Cleveland received in the Aaron Civale trade at last year’s trade deadline. The Tampa Bay Rays selected him in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Civale and Manzardo were a 1 for 1 swap in the trade.

There is one problem

Manzardo plays one position and one position only, first base. Cleveland already has a pretty good player there in Josh Naylor. Kyle is not fast, so the outfield is out of the question, and honestly he is considered a good defensive first baseman at best.

So how does he fit into the everyday line-up? I say everyday line-up because a player of his development needs regular at bats, be it at the major league or the AAA level. Assuming the Guardians agree with me, I believe Estevan Florial will be used more in left, who has been the regular DH and Manzardo will primarily be the DH. I assume he will cut into the playing time of both Gabriel Arias and David Fry.

There may also be a 1A problem. When Kwan is ready to come back, assuming Kyle hits enough to stay with the big club, Kyle may still be demoted. If he stays on the 26 man roster, and if he has a top two finish in the Rookie Of The Year voting through the Prospect Promotion Incentive which was placed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to reward teams for calling up prospects to the Bigs by giving them extra draft picks, Manzardo would not have enough service time to allow the Guardians to take advantage of that new rule. Plus, there is a chance that he could also become a Super Two player being granted an extra year of arbitration eligibility with enough service time over the next three seasons. If that would happen, the Guardians would loose the chance to get an extra draft pick, and may loose a year of control of Manzardo.

I am probably thinking way to far ahead here. All I am saying is that if Kyle hits like I think he is going to, then Kwan comes back, they may still send Kyle back to minors based on those two factors. Don’t blame the messenger, baseball is a business.

Stats and Information Credit; MLB TradeRumors.com and MLB.com

Photo Credit; Guardians Nation, Sports Illustrated

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