Guardians lose major bat at top of lineup ahead of important AL Central run

Outfielder Steven Kwan has been tremendous for the Cleveland Guardians so far in 2024. Unfortunately for Cleveland, the third-year player out of Los Gatos, California won't be available for at least the foreseeable future.

Kwan hit the 10-day injured list on Monday due to a strained hamstring he suffered over the weekend. He felt tightness in the hamstring while chasing down a fly ball during Cleveland's win over the Los Angeles Angels this past Saturday.

He underwent an MRI after the game and it was deemed that he suffered an acute strain that will keep him out for up to a month.

The timing of this injury couldn't be worse for Cleveland. The Guardians are 22-12 and are in first place of a surprisingly competitive AL Central, but 10 of their next 13 games come against divisional opponents — starting with the Detroit Tigers over the next three days.

The Guardians will then play four at the Chicago White Sox, three against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers on the road and then end this stretch with three against a surging Minnesota Twins team.

Losing Kwan during this stretch is going to be brutal for Cleveland. He's been an incredible lead-off hitter so far in 2024. So much so that he leads the AL with a .353 batting average with three home runs, 11 RBI and an OPS of .903, which is 22nd best in all of MLB.

In a corresponding move, Cleveland is calling up Kyle Manzardo, an interesting prospect the Guardians acquired last season when they traded Aaron Civale to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Manzardo is the No. 52 ranked prospect in MLB. He's considered a top hitting prospect from the left-hand side of the dish.