Kwan Is What Makes Baseball Fun
Photo courtesy of Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
It has been said that baseball is dying. It’s too slow of a game to watch on TV, they say. It’s not as exciting as football and basketball, they say.
The offseason lockout definitely did not improve things, as people realized that the commissioner wasn’t the best advocate for the sport and almost appeared to be trying his best to lose what little support he had from fans.
But that’s all in the past, and the season is underway.
And Cleveland Guardians’ left fielder Steven Kwan is the perfect example of why the sport of baseball remains so fun and interesting to watch each and every night.
Kwan was drafted by Cleveland in the 2018 MLB draft. He proved to be an amazing hitter in the minors, hitting .280 in his first full year in the minors and .328 in 2021 (The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19 in the minor leagues). He was also a clutch hitter, stacking up RBIs with 39 in 2019 and 44 in 2021.
A stellar spring training was a sign of things to come for the young prospect. He slashed .469/.500/.531, and he didn’t strike out once.
Kwan was an easy choice for the opening day roster, and he immediately looked like an All-Star player to start his career.
His first five games were historic. In 24 plate appearances, not only did he hit .667/.750/.933, not only did he walk seven time, but he never once swung the bat and missed the ball. At that point, including in spring training, he had not struck out since Sept. 26, 2021 in Triple-A.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, he saw 115 pitches without a swing and miss. Not only is that incredible for a rookie player to do, it’s incredible for anyone to do. The last player in their debut to come close to this streak was in 2000, when a player was pitched to 100 times without swinging and missing.
And this is why baseball is such an awesome sport.
In the NFL and NBA, every team has its superstars. Sure, sometimes a surprise awesome player pops up and it’s a fun story. But, baseball is the only sport where for over 200 days, on any given day in any given stadium, a player could do something totally unexpected and awesome.
Maybe a guy who hasn’t hit a home run in nearly three years finally hits one, maybe the all-star player kills a homerun out of the stadium or maybe it’s a normal game where the third basemen had several outstanding throws to first. The thing is, you never know who could be the breakout star of the night. Whether you are the Dodgers or the Pirates, the Red Sox or the Orioles, every team has the ability each night to walk out victorious. Which is why baseball is, in a word, awesome!
Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference
