Guardians rookie Steven Kwan has been baseball's toughest out to start the season
Through the first four days of the 2022 Major League Baseball season, the toughest out in the entire game has been a a 24-year-old rookie outfielder who not too long ago didn't feel like he deserved to be on the same field with his college teammates.
He stands 5-foot-9. He's 170 pounds. His name is Steven Kwan. And pitchers just can't seem to get him out right now.
Kwan reached base three times in his major league debut on Opening Day. On Saturday, he reached base three times again. That was just the appetizer for Sunday, when he went 5-for-5 and reached base six times (he was also hit by a pitch) in the Guardians' 17-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.
His batting average is .800. His OPS is 1.857.
Kwan has repaid manager Terry Francona's confidence to bump him into the No. 2 spot in the lineup and then some.
"If I was his teammate, I'd be rubbing all up against him," manager Terry Francona jokingly told reporters in Kansas City. "It's three games in, but nobody wants to not get excited. Shoot, man, when our young guys wanna do things like that, it is exciting."
Three games does not a career make. Some sharp regression is on the way. But Kwan had an opportunity to carve out a role in the Guardians' outfield, and he's taken full advantage of it so far.
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Kwan became the fifth player since World War II with a five-hit game within their first five major league games, joining Yermin Mercedes (2021), Gregory Polanco (2014), Mike Lansing (1993) and John Wehner (1991), according to CBS Sports.
Kwan is also the first player since at least 1901 to reach base 12 times in his first three major league games, according to Sarah Langs of mlb.com. No other player has reached base more than 10 times under those circumstances. Kwan's .800 batting average through three games also ties Mercedes as the highest mark since at least 1901 with at least 10 plate appearances.
And Kwan (19 swings) is one of four qualified players in the majors without a swing-and-miss yet this season, joining teammate Amed Rosario (21 swings), Eloy Jimenez (18 swings) and Ryan Jeffers (12 swings), according to mlb.com.
The fun won't last forever, but there's no reason for Kwan not to enjoy it while it's happening. The telling aspect moving forward was Francona's confidence to slide him into the No. 2 spot in the lineup between Myles Straw and Jose Ramirez, two players the team has signed to long-term contract extensions.
Francona has often liked to have a high-contact hitter with strong bat-to-ball skills in that spot. A hitter with an .800 batting average would seem to suffice.
Owen Miller showing positive signs at plate
It wasn't a Kwan-like performance, but Owen Miller also turned in a solid day on Sunday, racking up three hits, including a double, and driving in four runs.
Miller is one of the more intriguing players on the Guardians roster in 2022. He's an enticing hitter who torched Triple-A pitching early last season. He could also fit into a few different spots, including second base and first base.
Francona said during spring training that Miller was swinging the bat with more authority than they had previously seen at this level. If Miller can break through, then he, too, will carve out a larger role in the Guardians lineup.
"It's nice to see him swing the bat like that," Francona said. "We saw glimpses of it in spring training, but it's nice to see that. We saw how hot he was last year when he was in Triple-A before he came here. It's not just against lefties, it's against righties, so that's really good to see."
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: Guardians Steven Kwan has been MLB's toughest out to start the season
