Story by
Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan: Baseball's biggest story of the first week of the season
- Story by
- Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan: Baseball's biggest story of the first week of the season
Steven Kwan is taking the major leagues by storm .
The Guardians' rookie outfielder is off to one of the best starts to a career in baseball history.
Kwan followed up a historic Sunday — in which he went 5-for-5 and reached base six times in his third career major league game — with another history-making effort on Monday .
Advertisement
Kwan has already etched his name into the record books when it comes to a rookie debut. It's only four games, but Kwan has been baseball's toughest out, which is saying something considering the person waiting in the on-deck circle while Kwan bats is Jose Ramirez.
Guardians home opener: Teams announces 29th consecutive sellout
MLB overreactions: Five significant (or not!) takeaways from opening weekend
Kwan has become the first player since at least 1901 to reach base 15 times in four games, according to Sarah Langs of mlb.com. That is such a torrid pace that extrapolated to 162 games, he'd reach base 607 times. After a walk in the first inning Monday, he had reached base in nine consecutive at-bats .
Steven Kwan hasn't had a single swing-and-miss
Kwan is also one of only three qualified hitters (Eloy Jimenez, Ryan Jeffers) to not yet have a single swing-and-miss, and he's the only one who has done so with at least 20 swings (26). He also didn't strike out during spring training, meaning he hasn't struck out as a professional since Sept. 26 of last season with Triple-A Columbus.
Advertisement
In Sunday's game, he became the sixth player since at least 1901 to have a five-hit game within his first three career games and just the second since World War II, joining Yermin Mercedes (2021), Cecil Travis (1933), Red Massey (1918), Jack Dalton (1910) and Judge McCredie (1903). He reached base six times in that game, including being a hit by a pitch.
Kwan is hitting .692 with an OPS of 1.789. Through four games, a 24-year-old rookie outfielder getting his first taste of the majors has been baseball's most productive hitter.
How Steven Kwan made up for a mistake in the field
Monday's game offered the first glimpse of Kwan making a mistake, though he almost immediately made up for it at the plate. A defensive miscue in which Kwan couldn't catch a fly ball in left field brought home a run for the Royals.
Advertisement
The next time he stepped to the plate, which happened to be with the bases loaded, Kwan roped a three-run triple to right field that ended up being the difference in a 10-7 win. The storybook beginning to his career continued.
The Royals tried multiple approaches as to how to attack Kwan. None worked. And even Kwan's rookie mistake only led to his biggest hit thus far.
"He was going to it a little too quick and it hit the heel of his glove, but then his at-bat was terrific," manager Terry Francona told reporters in Kansas City. "They tried to elevate yesterday. They tried to throw him off-speed today. His at-bats are really, really good. That's stating the obvious. I bet there's a lot of player development people who have their chest out right now, as they should.
Advertisement
"And I know we're four games in, but every single one of them kept saying 'Hey, he's going to be OK, man.' So I know they're proud."
As far as what it means moving forward, Kwan is obviously not going to continue to hit .692. But until his fortunes reverse just as severely as what he's shown so far, he has his place in the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
It means that for the time being, the Guardians have Myles Straw locked into center field and Kwan in one of the corner outfield spots. That leaves the other spot to Oscar Mercado, Amed Rosario and Josh Naylor, who is progressing toward a return from an injury. Naylor could also share time at first base with Bobby Bradley, who is struggling to get going. All of a sudden, at least in the short run, the Guardians' outfield has some answers.
Oscar Mercado hits second home run in as many days
Mercado is making his case for more at-bats as well. After drilling a grand slam on Sunday, Mercado hit another home run in Monday's win. Francona said this spring that Mercado had put on about 20 pounds of muscle. Mercado hasn't done much outside of those two home runs, but it's an encouraging sign for the Guardians compared to what Mercado has shown since 2019.
Advertisement
Amazingly, after all the question marks in the outfield coming into the season, it has been Kwan and Mercado who have made major, early contributions to the lineup.
Owen Miller's surge continues
As for the infield, Owen Miller is earning himself a more stable place in the lineup. Miller has had a strong start to the season, including Monday's game in which he went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Miller is now hitting .545 with a 1.401 OPS, and if not for Kwan would be the biggest bright spot on the roster from the season's first series, a 2-2 split with the Royals.
Francona said this spring that Miller was swinging the bat with more "authority" than they had seen in the past, at least at the major league level. Miller torched Triple-A pitching early last year, but he never replicated that production in the majors. As long as Miller continues to hit, he'll have a spot in the lineup.
Advertisement
The question is simply whether he'll play second base or first base on a daily basis. He can form somewhat of a platoon with Bradley or Naylor at first, and thus far he's done more to earn at-bats than Yu Chang.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com . Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians . Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Steven Kwan: Baseball's biggest story of the first week of the season
