Two-time All-Star Steven Kwan has been one of the best leadoff hitters in the majors since 2022.

With Kwan’s ongoing slump showing no signs of ending, Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt made a dramatic move to take some pressure off him.

Kwan has been dropped from first to sixth in the batting order, where he is slated to remain Sunday afternoon when the Guardians wrap up their homestand against the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincinnati right-hander Brady Singer (2-3, 5.79 ERA) will start against Cleveland righty Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.74) in the finale of the three-game series.

“It’s probably been a couple weeks coming, so I have no problem with it,” Kwan said of the change. “I don’t want to hurt the team in any way. I think (Vogt) was just respecting me and wanting to keep things the same.”

A four-time Gold Glove award winner in left field, his struggles have coincided with his new role swinging between left and center in 2026.

Kwan’s batting average is just .204, far and away the lowest of his career, and his on-base percentage is .316.

Moving him down in the order and putting Kwan in left field seemed to alleviate some of the pressure Saturday, when he went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks in Cleveland’s 7-4 win.

“He’s our guy. He’s gonna be back in the first hole,” Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio said of Kwan. “He’s going to be the best first hitter in the game. He’s going to be fine.”

Kwan’s lack of production has been a major reason why the Guardians’ offense has stagnated. Opposing pitchers haven’t had to face franchise icon Jose Ramirez in nearly as many RBI situations.

With the bases empty, Kwan hit only .183 and had a .286 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot that he had occupied since June 19, 2022.

“There have been elements of timing, pitch selection and mechanical things for him this season,” Vogt said. “I told Kwanny, ‘It’s time to get back to who you are.’ “

Williams originally was slated to pitch on Saturday but was bumped back a day for matchup purposes in his first career game against the Reds. He is 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in 18 career interleague outings.

Singer has plenty of experience against Cleveland from his five years with the Kansas City Royals, compiling a 3-3 record and 4.88 ERA in 15 appearances.

Cincinnati has lost all three of Singer’s starts in May, when he is 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA and averaging a mere 4 1/3 innings per.

Reds manager Terry Francona is also dealing with a young hitter who has run into recent obstacles in rookie first baseman Sal Stewart.

Stewart led the majors in homers at one point in April, but his 0-for-2, one-RBI performance Saturday dropped his average over the last 19 games to .147 with just one long ball and 18 strikeouts.

“Things aren’t going the way I want them, but that’s strictly on me,” said Stewart, who is batting .236 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs in 46 total games. “I’ve got to look for better pitches to hit.”

Francona isn’t making drastic changes yet, but the manager did move Stewart from the cleanup spot to third in the order four games ago. Stewart is hitless in 14 at-bats in his new role.

“Trying to let the game come to you, it’s easier said than done,” Francona said. “He’s started getting pounded inside, which has gotten him a little off what he was doing before.

“He will be OK. He’s too good a hitter.”

The Reds won the series opener 7-6 before losing Saturday.

The teams wrap up their annual, home-and-home Ohio Cup competition with three games in Cincinnati from July 27-29. The Reds currently possess the trophy after going 5-1 against Cleveland in 2025.

–Field Level Media

The New York Mets might not be able to climb out of the hole they’ve dug over the first quarter of the season.

But Saturday night was evidence that the Mets might be resilient enough to mount the effort.

The Mets will look to close out a homestand in encouraging fashion Sunday afternoon when they host the New York Yankees in the rubber game of the season’s first Subway Series.

Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.10 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Elmer Rodriguez (0-1, 5.19).

The Mets evened the series Saturday night, when Mark Vientos had three RBIs and Luke Weaver recorded six high-pressure outs in a 6-3 win.

The Mets improved to 4-1 on the homestand one night after they were shaken by the loss of starting pitcher Clay Holmes, who suffered a broken right fibula when he was hit by Spencer Jones’ comebacker in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 5-2 win.

Seven members of the Opening Day roster are on the injured list for the Mets, who are in last place in the National League East at 19-26. But the news regarding Holmes was doubly stunning given his status as the staff’s veteran leader and his ability to record four more outs Friday before he departed and underwent X-rays that revealed the break.

“(Friday) night was tough for all of us in there in the clubhouse,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

The mood was much lighter thanks to a collective effort Saturday, when the Mets forced six Yankees hurlers to throw a combined 173 pitches while five of their pitchers combined on a nine-hitter.

Weaver, the fourth pitcher, inherited a bases-loaded jam with the Mets ahead 5-3 in the seventh. He retired the next three batters before working a one-hit eighth.

“We’ve got 26 big league players that are more than capable to turn this thing around even though we’ve been facing a lot of adversity,” Mendoza said. “So to go out there and play a game like that and get the job done, it’s just fun to watch and good to see it from the boys.”

The loss put the Yankees in danger of suffering their third straight series loss after opening the season by going 9-2-1 in their first 12 series.

The Yankees were held to three runs or fewer Saturday for the seventh time in the last 10 games. They lead the AL with 231 runs but haven’t won a game when scoring fewer than four runs since April 28, when they edged the Texas Rangers 3-2.

The Yankees stranded 11 runners, one shy of their season high, and left at least two runners on in an inning five different times. They were also just 3 of 15 with runners in scoring position.

The last five Yankees to step to the plate Saturday made six outs on just 19 pitches.

“We had a chance to take it right there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, referring to the seventh inning. “And we just couldn’t break through.”

Peralta earned the win in his most recent start last Tuesday, when he allowed two runs over six innings as the Mets beat the Detroit Tigers 10-2. Rodriguez, who was recalled Saturday from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre to replace the injured Max Fried, last pitched for the Yankees on May 5, when he didn’t factor into the decision after allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ 7-4 win over the Texas Rangers.

Peralta lost his lone previous appearance against the Yankees on March 27, 2025, when he gave up two runs over five innings for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-2 loss. Rodriguez, who is making his third big league start Sunday, has never faced the Mets.

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia Phillies have been riding high with a prolific offense, winning 14 of 18 games since making a managerial change.

That offense will be put to the test on Sunday afternoon, however, as the Phillies face reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes (6-2, 1.98 ERA) in the finale of their three-game series against the host Pittsburgh Pirates.

Philadelphia will send fellow right-hander Zack Wheeler (2-0, 2.55) to the mound.

The Phillies are at .500 for the first time since April 13 after posting 11-9 and 6-0 wins in the first two games of this series. Kyle Schwarber hit a pair of homers to continue his power surge in Friday’s victory, and Bryce Harper added a mammoth three-run shot on Saturday.

“Managing is really easy when you have really good players and they play well,” Philadelphia bench coach Dusty Wathan said.

Wathan was filling in Saturday for interim manager Don Mattingly, who was away from the team while attending a son’s graduation from Purdue.

Harper is 5-for-8 with a homer, five RBIs and two runs in this series for the Phillies, who have 91 runs over their past 18 games.

“That’s the team we are,” Harper said after Saturday’s game. “Basically, we didn’t have a great month of April. So we try to put that behind us as quickly as possible. (It’s about winning) series and months. Hopefully, we’ll be where we want to be in the end.”

Skenes enters Sunday’s contest after allowing just two hits over eight scoreless innings in each of his last two starts, wins against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

While crediting catcher Henry Davis for his success, the fireballing right-hander provided a self-deprecating remark during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“I don’t shake (off) a ton. I’m too stupid to call my own pitches, so I let him do it,” Skenes said of Davis, who has been behind the plate for all nine of Skenes’ starts this season. “He’s got my career in his hands every fifth day.”

Skenes, 23, is 0-1 with an 0.57 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) against Philadelphia. He has allowed just two runs (one earned) on five hits vs. the Phillies and has struck out 16 batters in 15 2/3 innings.

Skenes took a hard-luck loss on May 18, 2025, when the Pirates lost 1-0. He pitched a complete game and gave up just one run on three hits.

Wheeler, 35, picked up his second win of the season on Tuesday after permitting one run on six hits in 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies have won all four of his 2026 starts.

A three-time All-Star, Wheeler is 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against Pittsburgh.

The Pirates will look to solve Wheeler in a bid to avoid being swept in a series for the second time this season. They were brushed aside in a four-game set by the St. Louis Cardinals from April 27-30.

Pittsburgh rookie Konnor Griffin is riding a four-game hitting streak after joining Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds with two-hit performances on Saturday.

–Field Level Media