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 – statistically – 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 league game – with another history-making effort on Monday.
Thus far, 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 so far 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 through four games has become the first player since at least 1901 to reach base 15 times in that span, according to Sarah Langs of mlb.com. That is such a torrid pace that extrapolated to 162 games, he’d reach base 607 times. And at one point on Monday, he had reached base in nine consecutive at-bats.
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 did not strike out during spring training, meaning he hasn’t struck out as a professional since Sept. 26 of last season with Triple-A Columbus.
In Sunday’s game, he became the sixth player since at least 1901 to record 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, as he was also hit by a pitch.
Kwan through four games is now 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.
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 could not catch a fly ball in left field brought home a run for the Royals.
The next time he stepped to the plate, which happened to be with the bases loaded, Kwan roped a bases-clearing triple to right field that ended up being the difference in Monday’s win. The storybook beginning to his career continued.
The Royals have tried multiple approaches as to how to attack Kwan. None of worked. And even Kwan’s rookie mistake only led to his biggest hit thus far.
“He was doing to do it a little too fast 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 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 forever. But until his fortunes reverse just as severely as what he’s shown so far, he has his place in the No. 2 spots 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, once he’s able to return from an injury – though Naylor could also time at first base with Bobby Bradley 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, meanwhile, 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 noted 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 as encouraging of a sign for the Guardians compared to what Mercado has shown since 2019.
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 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 might be the biggest bright spot on the roster from the season’s first series, which the Guardians split with the Royals 2-2.
Francona noted 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 Cleveland never got to see that kind of production in the majors. As long as Miller continues to hit, he’ll have a spot in the lineup.
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 (which is only an option when Amed Rosario either sits or plays left field).
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.
