Photo: Keith Gillett/Icon Presswire

Whatever team Steven Kwan plays for on August 1, this much is true: Kwan is a terrific defensive left fielder.

Kwan leads all left fielders with 13 Defensive Runs Saved this season. The next-closest player has 8. He’s probably going to lead the position in Runs Saved for the third time in his four MLB seasons. The year he didn’t lead was 2024 when he finished third.

Most Defensive Runs Saved – LF in 2025

Over the last four seasons, Kwan has 59 Runs Saved. The next-closest player is Ian Happ with 31. The only position with a bigger gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is third base where Ke’Bryan Hayes has a 30-run edge over Ryan McMahon. And though Kwan has played the second-most innings of anyone there, he crushes others who play the position often.

Most Innings Played – LF – Last 4 Seasons

Kwan has good range numbers this season, though they’re not the best at the position. Where he’s differentiated himself from others is in his throws. He leads left fielders with 7 assists without the help of a cutoff man (among his 9 assists overall). Those impact both his outfield arm stats and what we refer to as his “Good Fielding Play Runs Saved.”

Additionally, Kwan has been credited for 5 instances in which he held a batter to a single by getting to a ball quickly or playing a ball off the wall well. As was said on a Guardians broadcast- he plays the left field wall “like he built it.” That play is something our Data Scouts do via video review and is a component of his Runs Saved. He’s tied for the MLB lead with Jarren Duran for such plays.   

We should point out too that Kwan doesn’t have the strongest arm among left fielders. He averages 87 MPH on the top 10% of his throws, which is right around average at the position.  

But he knows what he’s doing out there, as evidenced by the play above and these too.

And this

As such, Kwan has 8 Runs Saved from the combination of outfield throws and all of his Good Fielding Plays. Duran ranks second with 4 Runs Saved. The players ahead of Kwan in Range Runs Saved, Wyatt Langford, Harrison Bader, and Isaac Collins, have -1, 1, and -2 Runs Saved for things outside of their range, respectively.

The Guardians have maximized the value they’ve gotten from Kwan in the nearly four seasons he’s been with the team. His 16 WAR is higher than all but one player taken in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft (in which Kwan went in the 5th round). The only player to top him from that group is another great defender, Nico Hoerner (just shy of 20 WAR). 

There’s a lot to like about Kwan beyond his glove given that he usually hits for a high average, rarely strikes out, and can steal a base. The defense is one component in what is a pretty complete player.

Kwan has reportedly been coveted by teams like the Dodgers and Blue Jays. With the Dodgers, he’d be filling a defensive need. The team has gotten a combined -7 Runs Saved from its left fielders. With the Blue Jays, it would be a case of the rich getting richer (they already have one of the top center fielders in Myles Straw). 

Whoever he’s playing for, we suspect they’re going to be pretty happy with what they got.