Guardians Roster Moves: Steven Kwan To Injured List, Kyle Manzardo Call Up

The Cleveland Guardians were one of the only teams in baseball who had not made any roster moves with their position players since Opening Day. However, that all changed as the Guardians received some not-so-great news regarding one of their top players.

Steven Kwan will spend some time on the injured list as he nurses a left hamstring strain. The team said the injury is expected to take four weeks to heal.

Cleveland’s left fielder initially left the game on Saturday evening after making a running catch down the foul line. Kwan received an MRI on the injury the next day which concluded that he needed some time off to let his body heal.

What makes this much more painful for the team is that Kwan is off to an incredible start this season. He’s currently hitting .353/.407/.496 with a .903 OPS including three home runs and 11 RBI. Not to mention his Gold Glove-caliber defense has been on display numerous times already this season.

Not having Kwan for what could be an extended period of time will be difficult for this team to navigate.

The Kwan news is tough to swallow, but this is still a reason for fans to be excited about the upcoming series. 

Cleveland has officially called up their second-ranked prospect Kyle Manzardo who is ready to make his big league debut. Manzardo was the key piece the Guardinas got back from the Tampa Bay Rays for Aaron Civale at last year’s trade deadline. 

The 24-year-old has put up a 1.017 OPS including nine home runs over 29 games at the Triple-A level this season.

The time has come for Manzardo to make a big impact for the Guardians. 

Sam Hentges will return from the injured list on Friday night after missing the first month of the season.

He was dealing with left middle finger inflammation during spring training and needed to work back up to the major league level. Hentges made six relief appearances in the minors as part of a rehab assignment.

The southpaw had a 3.61 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 52.1 innings pitched in 2023. 

The Guardians had to open a roster spot with Hentges being activated. In a corresponding move, the team option Peter Strzelecki to Triple-A Columbus.