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Steven Kwan

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Steven Kwan
Kwan with the Cleveland Guardians in 2022
Cleveland Guardians – No. 38
Left fielder
Born: (1997-09-05) September 5, 1997 (age 27)
Los Gatos, California, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 7, 2022, for the Cleveland Guardians
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.285
Home runs25
Runs batted in150
Stolen bases52
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Steven Robert Kwan (born September 5, 1997) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Born in Los Gatos, California and raised in Fremont, California, Kwan played three years of college baseball at Oregon State University before being selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB draft. He was a member of their minor league system for four years before making Cleveland's Opening Day roster in 2022, quickly becoming a part of their starting lineup, playing all three outfield positions. Following the conclusion of his rookie year, he earned a Gold Glove Award for his defense in left field and was a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year. Kwan is a one-time MLB All Star.

Amateur career

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Kwan during the 2018 College World Series

Kwan attended Washington High School in Fremont, California, where he batted .462 as a senior in 2015.[1] After graduating, he enrolled at Oregon State University where he played college baseball for the Beavers. As a freshman in 2016, he played in 35 games in which he hit .215.[2] He later said that, as a freshman, he did not feel he belonged at Oregon State among their "high recruits." He sat out two months of the season and had to visit with a sports psychologist.[3] His play improved in 2017 as a sophomore and he appeared in 55 games (making 42 starts), batting .331 with one home run, 18 runs batted in (RBIs), six doubles, and eight stolen bases.[4][5] After the 2017 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[6]

As a junior in 2018, Kwan played in 66 games and hit .355/.463/.457 with two home runs, 41 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases.[7] He batted leadoff ahead of Nick Madrigal, Trevor Larnach and Adley Rutschman and helped lead the Beavers to a national championship in the 2018 College World Series.[8] After his junior year, he was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[9][10]

Professional career

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Minor leagues

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Kwan at the White House in 2019

Kwan signed with the Guardians organization when it was still known as the Indians and made his professional debut with the Arizona League Indians. He was later promoted to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, hitting a combined .346 over 17 games between the two clubs.[11] In 2019, he played with the Lynchburg Hillcats, batting .280 with three home runs, 39 RBIs, and 26 doubles over 123 games.[12]

He did not play a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Kwan began the 2021 season with the Akron RubberDucks and was promoted to the Columbus Clippers in late August.[14] He missed six weeks during the season due to a strained right hamstring.[15] Over 77 games between the two clubs, Kwan slashed .328/.407/.527 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs.[16] The newly named Cleveland Guardians selected Kwan to their 40-man roster on November 19, 2021.[17]

Major leagues

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On April 2, 2022, the Guardians announced that Kwan had been named to the Opening Day roster.[18] He made his MLB debut on Opening Day as the starting right fielder on April 7, and recorded his first major league hit off Kansas City Royals reliever Scott Barlow.[19][20] After making his debut, he became just the sixth player since at least 1901 to have a five-hit game within his first three major league games, and also became the first player since at least 1901 to reach base safely 15 times in his first four games.[21] He saw 116 pitches before he swung and missed, the most for any batter to start his career since 2000.[22]

Kwan was named American League Rookie of the Month for April and September 2022.[23] He hit his first major league home run on May 5 off of José Berríos.[24] On September 25, Kwan hit his first career grand slam off of Joe Barlow of the Texas Rangers.[25]

In 2022, Kwan had the lowest percentage of hard-hit balls in the majors (18.9%), the highest called-strike percentage in the majors (24.5%), and batted .298/.373/.400 with six home runs, 52 RBIs, 19 stolen bases, and 25 doubles alongside 62 walks and 60 strikeouts over 147 games. Kwan's 62 walks compared to 60 strikeouts made him the first rookie to record more walks than strikeouts since Dustin Pedroia in 2007.[26][27] On defense, Kwan was awarded the American League's left field Gold Glove Award.[28] He was named a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, alongside Adley Rutschman and Julio Rodríguez.[29]

In 2023, Kwan had the lowest strikeout percentage in the AL (10.4%) and the lowest maximum exit velocity (105.2 mph), while batting .268/.340/.370.[30][31]

In 2024, Kwan batted .292/.368/.425 with 14 home runs and 83 RBIs, with the lowest maximum exit velocity in MLB (105.6 mph).[32]

Personal life

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Kwan is of Chinese and Japanese descent.[33] His paternal grandparents are from Guangzhou, whereas his maternal grandparents are from Yamagata Prefecture.[33] He was nearly recruited to play for Team Japan in international competition 2023 World Baseball Classic, but was found to be ineligible. In 2024, he expressed his interest in playing for Japan in future competitions.[34]

References

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  1. ^ "All-East Bay baseball team". June 24, 2015.
  2. ^ "Kwan puts team above self".
  3. ^ Lewis, Ryan (April 4, 2022). "Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan had to get over 'imposter syndrome' during journey to majors". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "OSU baseball: Fan-favorite Kwan terrorizes opposing pitchers".
  5. ^ "Swing change has Steven Kwan at ':;forefront of OSU lineup". May 19, 2017.
  6. ^ "#51 Steven Kwan". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "OSU overcame staggering number of obstacles to win NCAA title". July 7, 2018.
  8. ^ Mintz, Jake (April 12, 2022). "How Cleveland's Steven Kwan became the star of MLB opening weekend". FOX Sports. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  9. ^ Odom, Joel (June 5, 2018). "MLB draft: Oregon State's Steven Kwan picked by Cleveland in 5th round". OregonLive. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "OSU baseball: Kwan, Rasmussen, Gretler selected on Day 2 of draft".
  11. ^ "Lynchburg Hillcats announce 2019 opening day roster". March 30, 2019.
  12. ^ White, Scott (September 15, 2021). "Fantasy Baseball: 11 no-name sleeper prospects to pick up in dynasty leagues now". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  13. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com.
  14. ^ "State of the Indians' farm system, Terry Francona's status, offseason targets and more: Meisel's Mailbag".
  15. ^ Bournival, Brad (August 5, 2021). "Akron RubberDucks' Steven Kwan better than ever since injury". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "Drew Rasmussen Headed to MLB Postseason".
  17. ^ "Guardians Announce Series Of 40-man Roster Moves". MLB.com.
  18. ^ Gulick, Brendan (April 2, 2022). "Cleveland Guardians' Opening Day Roster Beginning To Take Shape - Sports Illustrated Cleveland Indians News, Analysis and More". Si.com. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  19. ^ Bell, Mandy (April 6, 2022). "Steven Kwan earns Major League debut on Opening Day". MLB.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  20. ^ Hoynes, Paul (April 8, 2022). "Rookie Steven Kwan has an opening day to remember: Guardians' takeaways". cleveland. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  21. ^ Bell, Mandy (April 11, 2022). "Steven Kwan makes more MLB history in Guardians win". MLB.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  22. ^ Petraglia, Mike (April 13, 2022). "Steven Kwan's streak without swing-and-miss ends". MLB.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  23. ^ Lewis, Ryan. "Jose Ramirez wins AL Player of the Month, Steven Kwan named Rookie of the Month". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  24. ^ Meisel, Zack (May 5, 2022). "Guardians rookie Steven Kwan hits first career home run". The Athletic. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  25. ^ Wild, Tommy (September 25, 2022). "WATCH: Steven Kwan Hits Grand Slam As Guardians Are Set To Clinch The Division". SI.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  26. ^ "Major League Leaderboards » 2022 » Batters » Plate Discipline Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
  27. ^ "Major League Leaderboards » 2022 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
  28. ^ "MLB Announces 2022 Gold Glove Winners". MLB Trade Rumors.
  29. ^ Hoynes, Paul (November 8, 2022). "Guardians' Terry Francona, Steven Kwan finalists for BBWAA AL manager, rookie awards". cleveland. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  30. ^ "Major League Leaderboards - 2023 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball.
  31. ^ "Major League Leaderboards - 2023 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball.
  32. ^ "2024 Major League Leaders," Fangraphs.
  33. ^ a b David Brown (April 12, 2022). "Steven Kwan stays grounded during record-breaking start for Guardians". Bally Sports. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022.
  34. ^ Alec Yoshio MacDonald (January 19, 2023). "Kwan proudly represents his Japanese heritage … just not in the World Baseball Classic". NichiBei News.
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