Guardians by the numbers: Angel Martínez's magic, Steven Kwan's icy bat and more

CLEVELAND — The Guardians sit tied atop the AL Central, one game above the .500 mark and with a minus-8 run differential. Manager Stephen Vogt has strong feelings about that last statistic.“It’s not important at all,” Vogt said last week.Well, here are some numbers Vogt and every other Guardians follower might deem important:11: Number of pitches in the at-bat of the year by Angel MartínezMartínez took Max Scherzer deep in their first encounter Friday night, but it was his second at-bat against the future Hall of Famer that showcased the strides he’s made as a hitter this season. He fouled off the first seven pitches of the at-bat and then resisted three pitches out of the zone before he whacked a fastball 105.2 mph into the seats in right-center field. In the two duels, Scherzer threw 15 pitches: five curveballs, four fastballs, four sliders and two changeups. Martínez didn’t whiff on any of them and wound up with a pair of homers. Angel chases the future Hall-of-Famer with his SECOND homer of the game!#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/xAfyM9Ips1 — Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 25, 202682.0: Steven Kwan’s average exit velocity (in mph)That’s the lowest number in the majors, behind Jorbit Vivas, Taylor Walls, Gleyber Torres (that’s a surprise) and Chandler Simpson. Kwan has never been one to wallop the baseball, but that 82.0 mph figure is a steep drop from his previous outputs.2022: 85.1 mph 2023: 86.0 mph 2024: 86.3 mph 2025: 86.2 mph 2026: 82.0 mphAdvertisement