Guardians leadoff man Steven Kwan led off Thursday’s afternoon recreation towards the Mariners with a double (it will find yourself a 6-3 Guardians win). That raised his batting common to a good .400. He would report a stroll earlier than making outs in his remaining two at-bats, dropping his common to .396 on the 12 months earlier than the top of the sport. Nonetheless … 

Everybody perk up, proper? A participant’s batting common was .400! In late June!

Main League Baseball hasn’t seen a professional .400 hitter since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. That phrase, “certified,” issues right here. This implies a participant has performed sufficient to qualify for the batting title. By rule, that’s 3.1 plate appearances per each recreation his staff has performed. Kwan missed time on account of harm earlier this season, so he solely has 46 video games performed proper now. 

He additionally has 209 plate appearances in 72 Guardians video games. That is 2.9 plate appearances per recreation, so he is not certified. Assuming he stays wholesome right here for the subsequent a number of weeks — keep in mind, he hits leadoff — he’ll get there quickly sufficient, although. Simply be mindful as we transfer ahead that Kwan is not but certified.

In recent times, we have seen gamers flirt with .400 for a bit earlier than falling off. Bear in mind Cody Bellinger in 2019? He was hitting .404 by means of 47 video games. He ended up at .305, although he was adequate all 12 months to win the NL MVP. Luis Arraez made a heck of a run final 12 months. He was hitting .401 by means of 78 Marlins video games on June 24. He was nonetheless at .381 by means of Aug. 1. 

For these curious, listed here are another distinguished gamers who made a run at .400 and the place they sat by means of 72 staff video games. 

• Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994. He was at .384 by means of 72 Padres video games, however do not forget that was a strike-shortened season and so they solely performed 117. In 1997, Gwynn ended up hitting .372. By way of 72 Padres video games, he was at .391. 
• George Brett hit .390 in 1980. By way of 72 Royals video games (and solely 45 himself), he was hitting simply .337. 
• Ichiro Suzuki hit .372 in 2004 and thru 72 Mariners video games, he was solely at .323. 
• Larry Walker hit .379 in 1999 and was at .382 by means of 72 Rockies video games. 
• Rod Carew hit .388 in 1977 and was hitting .408 by means of 72 Twins video games. 

Maybe Kwan is having a surge like Brett and Suzuki. He was hitting .353 when he hit the injured record in early Could. Since coming off in time for a recreation on Could 31, he has a 14-game hitting streak with a number of hits in eight totally different video games, together with 4 video games with not less than three hits. 

Once more, Kwan now sits at .396 by means of June 20. He additionally has a talent set — like Arráez — that means he may preserve this factor within the public eye for a bit. He very not often strikes out, with solely 14 strikeouts by means of 185 at-bats this season. He solely struck out 75 instances in 718 plate appearances final season. He sprays the ball to all fields, hitting it to the other area almost as a lot as pulling it with most balls directed up the center. Solely round 20% of his balls in play are fly balls, leaving the remaining as line drives or grounders. 

His batting common on balls in play this season is .413 and a few would possibly say that is unsustainable, however he is a fast-running lefty who hits a whole lot of grounders and line drives whereas not putting out a lot. It is precisely the form of talent set that would run an outlier BABIP. 

Principally, Kwan places the ball in play a ton and offers himself an incredible likelihood for the ball to discover a gap at any time when it’s in play. We’ll preserve our fingers crossed that he continues to flirt with .400 for some time.