Steven Kwan Moves Down – May 18, 2026
Stephen Kwan, OF, CLE
Kwan was bumped to the #6 spot in the lineup for the second game in a row against the Reds on Sunday, and he finished 0-2 with 2 BB’s and a run scored in the contest. He has spent a majority of his career with the Guardians hitting out of the leadoff spot, but he is going through an extended slump that has dropped his season line to .201/.320/.256 through 44 games. Things have gotten really ugly over the last month, as he’s hitting .153 (13-85) with 0 HR’s and 0 SB’s over his past 24 games. Through all of this, Kwan remains an excellent contact hitter with more walks than strikeouts (27:23 K:BB), and that has remained steady even throughout his slump. His K% is a bit higher than usual, but that has more to do with his increased patience at the plate (career low 34.8% Swing%), as opposed to a decline in his contact skills. In fact, his ridiculously low 2.4% SwStr% this season would be a career best mark. More responsible for his decline is his disappearing quality of contact. Kwan has also been a soft contact hitter, but his HardHit% has dropped to a miserable 9.1% this year (career 19.7%). His track record suggests that he’ll bounce back, and once that happens, he’ll likely return to the top of the Cleveland lineup. But until then, his fantasy value has taken a big hit.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, TOR
Guerrero went 2-4 with a HR against the Tigers on Sunday, marking just his 3rd HR of the season. Despite the power outage, Guerrero has been hitting for average for most of the season, until falling into a recent slump. Entering Sunday, he was hitting a pitiful .118 in the month of May, with 0 XBH’s across 14 games. He still had an excellent 7:7 K:BB across 59 PA’s during that stretch and it was likely nothing more than a mini-slump. Overall, he’s boasting an elite 11.6% K% this season, but as usual for him, his FB% is on the low end at 30.1%. He’s gone through several stretches throughout his career where his groundball tendencies have led to severe power droughts, but he typically breaks out with a power surge sooner or later. The 48 bombs that he hit back in 2021 seem like an outlier at this point, but he has still averaged 28 HR’s over the past 4 seasons. The safe bet would be to assume that Vladimir will find his power stroke again at some point during the 2026 campaign.
Gunnar Henderson, SS, BAL
Henderson had a huge day against the Nationals on Sunday, going 4-5 with a double, a HR, and a SB. This was Henderson’s 10th HR of the season, but his first since April 26, ending a 17 game homerless drought during which he posted a putrid .449 OPS. Henderson has been a big disappointment from a BA standpoint so far this season, hitting a lowly .214 with a 27.8% K%, a 7% jump from last season. He has also not been hitting the ball as hard as usual with a 43.6% HardHit% (career 51.1%) and his Fast Swing% has dipped to 42.7% (career 56.8%). He has been hitting more fly balls this year, which has helped his overall power output, but it hasn’t helped his BA. Right now, this doesn’t look like the Gunnar Henderson that hit .281 with 37 HR’s and 118 runs scored just two years ago.
Grayson Rodriguez, SP, LAA
Rodriguez was activated off of the IL to face the Dodgers on Sunday, and make his first MLB start since 2024. His Angels debut couldn’t have gone much worse, as he allowed 7 ER’s in 3.2 IP while recording a 4:4 K:BB. He was great over the course of his rehab assignment, posting an 18:2 K:BB across 9.2 IP, although he didn’t face any competition higher than single-A ball, so perhaps we shouldn’t read into that too much. He was also great for the Orioles in 2023-2024, compiling a 4.11 ERA, but also a 3.68 xFIP and 9.77 K/9 across 238.2 IP. It’s too early to know if Sunday’s outing was just a clunker, or if Grayson will need more time to get to speed. He certainly has the upside to be a solid MLB starter, but there’s obviously a lot of risk in the short term.
Lucas Giolito, SP, SD
Giolito made his season debut for the Padres on Sunday, and allowed 3 ER’s on 1 hit and 3 BB’s in 5 IP, to go along with 3 strikeouts. He is coming off a season with the Red Sox in which he posted a solid 3.41 ERA across 145 IP, but that came with a 4.59 xFIP and a mediocre 7.51 K/9. Giolito’s ERA was above 4.80 in each of his prior two seasons, so you have to wonder if last year’s success will be repeatable in 2026. It’s probably best to look for safer options for the time being.
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