This Hideous Cleveland Guardians Stat Will Make You Double Take

Last year, the Cleveland Guardians struggled to get consistent offensive production from any outfielder not named Steven Kwan. Fast forward to 2025, and things haven't changed. In fact, things have gotten even worse for the Guardians.

Kwan has been terrific this season. The All-Star is slashing .308/.370/.435 with six home runs and 23 RBI over 282 plate appearances whiile continuing to play stellar defense. We know he's a stud.

But the rest of Cleveland's outfield has been nothing short of a cataclysmic disaster, whether that's the failed right-field platoon of Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel or Lane Thomas forgetting how to hit a baseball (while also having tremendous difficulty staying on the field).

Just how bad have things gotten for the Guardians, you ask? Well, check out this ridiculous statistic revealed by The Athletic in a recent trade deadline piece.

"Outfielders not named Kwan have more than 550 plate appearances this season and an OPS that is lower than that number of plate appearances," The Athletic wrote.

It's hard to believe that's true, but it is, thanks much in part to Thomas (.426 OPS) and Noel (.392 OPS), the latter of whom was recently demoted to Triple-A Columbus. Not that Jones (.620 OPS) nor Angel Martinez (.623 OPS) have been that much better.

Cleveland obviously needs to add at least one bat if it wants to be taken seriously as a contender. Last summer, the Guardians added Thomas before the deadline. They will need to make an even more impactful addition to genuinely move the needle this time around.

Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage