CLEVELAND — Romance discovered on a volleyball court and inspiration drawn from Ichiro Suzuki .
The power of written words in a journal and mental clarity gained through meditation.
Increased experience and comfort in Major League Baseball combined with greater knowledge of opposing pitchers.
It's impossible to pinpoint one aspect of Steven Kwan's journey or a sole improvement to his game as the definitive reason for what he has accomplished thus far in his third season with the Guardians . The ingredients to success are bountiful.
"It's a perfect storm right now," Kwan , Cleveland 's dynamic leadoff hitter and left fielder, told the Beacon Journal last week.
Kwan , 26, will appear in his first MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Fans voted him a starting outfielder for the American League , and he's accompanied on the All-Star roster by four Guardians teammates , third baseman Jose Ramirez , first baseman Josh Naylor , utility man David Fry and closer Emmanuel Clase . Kwan will bat leadoff for the AL.
Since Kwan's selection on July 3, he has received congratulations from players throughout the league, including San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman , someone he has admired for years.
Kwan said his parents, Jane and Ray, are "over the moon" about the All-Star nod. They met amid the competition of intramural volleyball. Kwan's mother also played libero for San Jose State University's women's volleyball team. Kwan took summer volleyball classes at age 11 or 12 to appease her, yet he refused to forsake baseball or offseason workouts for another sport.
"I think it killed her because I was really good at [volleyball]. I had really good jumps, good coordination, was able to run around," said Kwan, who began playing T-ball at age 4.
Kwan's mom is 5 feet tall, 12 inches shorter than his dad. Kwan is listed as 5 feet, 9 inches and 170 pounds. As a kid, he grew accustomed to being viewed as an underdog because of his size and didn't allow himself to believe he could one day become an MLB All-Star.
"I'm kind of a hedger by nature, so I never thought it would get to this point," he said. "Shooting for the stars, you can get hurt if you don't get there. I think just being aware of that takes care of that dynamic. But I think my mom's kind of the same [way]. She told me at a young age I probably wouldn't be a big leaguer. So it's like, 'OK. Let's set the target a little lower.' I think as I've kind of progressed in my career, I've continued that."
Whatever works, right?
At the All-Star break, Kwan is in the driver's seat for a batting title. He leads MLB with a .352 batting average, followed by Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich (.326) and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (.323). Kwan has compiled 99 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, a career-high nine home runs, 27 RBIs, 55 runs scored and five stolen bases in 69 games. He has drawn 23 walks and struck out 25 times in 281 at-bats. He has a .919 OPS.
Kwan suffered an acute left hamstring strain May 4 and missed 23 Guardians games before returning to their lineup May 31. Instead of accumulating rust because of the downtime, Kwan tallied at least one hit in each of his first 14 games back. He has been instrumental to the Guardians (58-37) earning the AL's best record thus far.
"The consistency, the contact, the taking what pitchers give him, not trying to do to much, managing at-bats, getting us going, every time we turn the lineup over, it's like we just speed up and go," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "He's been the catalyst all year. Gets us started. Just everything about what Kwanny is doing has been special."
Born and raised in Fremont, California, Kwan is of Japanese and Chinese descent. His parents were born in California. His maternal grandparents were born in Japan, his paternal grandparents in China. As a kid, he would spend summers with his Japanese grandma in Sunnyvale, California, and religiously follow updates on Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners.
"She had a news network, the NHK, and they had a little segment every day on what Ichiro did that day, and whether he went 5-for-5 or 0-for-5, I got to see all of his at-bats," Kwan said. "Obviously, I liked baseball at that point, but I'm just watching whoever was on TV, and Ichiro was just always on TV, kind of idolized as this god. He was one of those guys that kind of looks like me, and there's not many others in the league, so it's like, 'Oh, this is a guy I'm going to gravitate to.' … It definitely gives hope to a little kid."
Kwan has yet to meet Ichiro. He's had chances in Seattle but explained he doesn't want to force an introduction and prefers to wait for the appropriate time.
Ichiro won the AL batting title in 2001 (.350 average) and 2004 (.372). Kwan produced 70 hits in his first 43 games this season, the most since Ichiro collected 73 hits in his first 43 games of the 2001 season , when he garnered AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors.
"It's just cool to be in the same sentence as him," Kwan said. "This past month honestly has just been kind of a blur. Just trying to stay present. You see these stats and you don't want to hang onto them too hard, but I think those are the ones that definitely jump out.
"He's going to be a first-year Hall of Famer [in 2025], so it'll just be cool seeing all the hype around him again. I think it's cool when people dig up stats about him and then people are like, 'Wow, Ichiro was really good!' It's crazy that people forgot about that. He was the guy for so long."
A left-handed hitter, Kwan has a reputation for possessing elite bat control and command of the strike zone. Focus, attention to detail and an ability to remain even-keeled might be even more important for the chess enthusiast .
Roughly four times a week, Kwan meditates for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning. He acquired the practice from a few of his coaches at Oregon State University before Cleveland drafted him in the fifth round (No. 163 overall) in 2018.
"That allows me to kind of stay neutral every day and identify all these rogue thoughts that may go off in different directions," Kwan said. "That started my freshman year of college when I wasn't playing as well as I would've liked. It didn't feel like a physical thing. It felt more like I was at home plate, and I'd see two pitchers [instead of one]. I couldn't slow my heart rate down. I knew I had to change something."
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In 2019, Kwan began writing in a journal. Goals, game recaps, funny moments, scary occurrences, baseball and everyday life — it's all included.
"Being able to take thought to word and being able to conceptualize a thought as opposed to just letting it stew in my head, I think that was super important," he said. "So whenever there's something kind of eating away at me, I'll write it down."
Utility man Daniel Schneemann is Kwan's locker neighbor in Cleveland's clubhouse at Progressive Field. They have spent parts of three seasons together in Cleveland's organization — rookie league in Arizona in 2018, the Double-A Akron RubberDucks in 2021 and the Guardians this year.
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Schneemann said he hasn't seen many players prepare their minds behind the scenes quite like Kwan does with his routines.
"A lot of the things that make him so good are about how he's able to stay so in the present and he doesn't look too far ahead in the future," Schneemann added. "He's always just focusing on what's happening in front of him."
It's why Kwan has refrained from taking a proverbial victory lap after making his first MLB All-Star team.
"I don't really like that," he said. "It's a lot of noise, a lot of distraction. Offseason's the time to celebrate. Still got a job to do. I think if you celebrate too much, then you're not focusing on the task at hand."
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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan worked his way to MLB All-Star debut
