Steven Kwan

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

Steven Kwan
Kwan at the White House in 2019
Cleveland Guardians – No. 38
Outfielder
Born: (1997-09-05) September 5, 1997
Los Gatos, California
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 7, 2022, for the Cleveland Guardians
MLB statistics
(through May 1, 2022)
Batting average.340
Home runs0
Runs batted in7
Teams

Amateur career

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. As a freshman in 2016, he played in 35 games in which he hit .215.[2] In 2017, as a sophomore, 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.[3][4] After the 2017 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[5] 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.[6] After his junior year, he was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[7][8]

Professional career

Kwan signed with the Indians and made his professional debut with the Arizona League Indians and was later promoted to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, hitting a combined .346 over 17 games between the two clubs.[9] In 2019, he played with the Lynchburg Hillcats, batting .280 with three home runs, 39 RBIs, and 26 doubles over 123 games.[10] He did not play a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] Kwan began the 2021 season with the Akron RubberDucks and was promoted to the Columbus Clippers in late August.[12] He missed six weeks during the season due to a strained right hamstring.[13] Over 77 games between the two clubs, Kwan slashed .328/.407/.527 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs.[14] The newly named Cleveland Guardians selected Kwan to their 40-man roster on November 19, 2021.[15]

On April 2, 2022, the Guardians announced that Kwan had been named to the Opening Day roster.[16] 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.[17][18] 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.[19] He saw 116 pitches before he swung and missed, the most for any batter to start his career since 2000.[20]

Personal life

Kwan is of Chinese-Japanese descent.[21]

References
  1. "All-East Bay baseball team". June 24, 2015.
  2. "Kwan puts team above self".
  3. "OSU baseball: Fan-favorite Kwan terrorizes opposing pitchers".
  4. "Swing change has Steven Kwan at forefront of OSU lineup". May 19, 2017.
  5. "#51 Steven Kwan". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  6. "OSU overcame staggering number of obstacles to win NCAA title". July 7, 2018.
  7. "MLB draft: Steven Kwan picked by Cleveland in 5th round". June 5, 2018.
  8. "OSU baseball: Kwan, Rasmussen, Gretler selected on Day 2 of draft".
  9. "Lynchburg Hillcats announce 2019 opening day roster". March 30, 2019.
  10. "Fantasy Baseball: 11 no-name sleeper prospects to pick up in dynasty leagues now".
  11. "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com.
  12. "State of the Indians' farm system, Terry Francona's status, offseason targets and more: Meisel's Mailbag".
  13. "Back from injury, RubberDucks Steven Kwan tearing up Double-A Northeast".
  14. "Drew Rasmussen Headed to MLB Postseason".
  15. "Guardians Announce Series Of 40-man Roster Moves". MLB.com.
  16. 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.
  17. "Tito teases Kwan, then grants him Opening Day debut". MLB.com.
  18. "Rookie Steven Kwan has an opening day to remember: Guardians' takeaways". cleveland.com. April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  19. "Rookie reaches base 15 times in first 4 games". MLB.com. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  20. "Swing and (kind of) a miss: Kwan's incredible streak ends". MLB.com.
  21. "Steven Kwan stays grounded during record-breaking start for Guardians".
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