Lee
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So you are saying a CF hitting .314 with 37 HR, 96 RBI and a 1.130 OPS is better than Kwan?
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Steven Kwan Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter Mott the Hoople
- Start date
So you are saying a CF hitting .314 with 37 HR, 96 RBI and a 1.130 OPS is better than Kwan?
Alabuckeye
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I love Kwanny but I think he need a day or two off
This tidbit was written 6 days ago:
One stat may hold the key to the reason behind Kwan's slump.
From the start of the season leading up until the All-Star Break, Kwan had a batting average of balls put in play (BABIP) of an astounding .371. It felt like he was going to get a hit every time he swung the bat.
However, Kwan's BABIP has dropped to a .198 since the All-Star Break.
This is becoming a problem for both Kwan and the Guardians because, as Cleveland's leadoff hitter, he needs to get on base. The hits aren't coming around for Kwan right now, and his walk rate is just at 8.3 percent.
An interesting piece of the puzzle here is how the results of the balls Kwan has put in play have shifted.
26.2 percent of the balls that Kwan was hitting ahead of the All-Star Break were classified as line drives. Since then, only hitting 18.8 percent of the contact he's made have been classified as such.
That's a steady decline. The other concerning part is that these line drives have turned into pop-ups and fly balls, with that number increasing from 36.9 to 43.6 percent since the All-Star Break and the number of infield fly balls increasing from 3.3 to 8.6 percent.
One stat may hold the key to the reason behind Kwan's slump.
From the start of the season leading up until the All-Star Break, Kwan had a batting average of balls put in play (BABIP) of an astounding .371. It felt like he was going to get a hit every time he swung the bat.
However, Kwan's BABIP has dropped to a .198 since the All-Star Break.
This is becoming a problem for both Kwan and the Guardians because, as Cleveland's leadoff hitter, he needs to get on base. The hits aren't coming around for Kwan right now, and his walk rate is just at 8.3 percent.
An interesting piece of the puzzle here is how the results of the balls Kwan has put in play have shifted.
26.2 percent of the balls that Kwan was hitting ahead of the All-Star Break were classified as line drives. Since then, only hitting 18.8 percent of the contact he's made have been classified as such.
That's a steady decline. The other concerning part is that these line drives have turned into pop-ups and fly balls, with that number increasing from 36.9 to 43.6 percent since the All-Star Break and the number of infield fly balls increasing from 3.3 to 8.6 percent.
Alabuckeye
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He’s dropping his shoulder on everything.
I’ve emailed Chris V
I’ve emailed Chris V
Otsego Mar
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Even so, I think Kwan has far and away exceeded expectations, even if he should continue on a torpedo pace to end the season. It’s just unfortunate he hasn’t been able to continue what could very well be a career 1st half of a season for him.
Maybe it’s from lingering (hammy) issues, maybe he’s just hit a wall after an all-star season…..maybe neither. But this is not the last you will see of the Kwanimal.
I still say he looks like he’s running with a big loaded diaper in his pants - that is not to be taken as medical advice.
Maybe it’s from lingering (hammy) issues, maybe he’s just hit a wall after an all-star season…..maybe neither. But this is not the last you will see of the Kwanimal.
I still say he looks like he’s running with a big loaded diaper in his pants - that is not to be taken as medical advice.
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Suck my kiss
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As a layman, it appears he's trying to put air on every fucking ball. Which could be explained by the shoulder dip theory.
Someone email Vogt
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Nice bases loaded single last night
How Guardians All-Star Steven Kwan is handling a flirtation with .300 after flirting with .400
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 03: Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a two-run single in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on September 03, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
CLEVELAND — At 1:20 p.m. ET on June 20, Steven Kwan doubled to right field off Seattle Mariners starter Luis Castillo to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
For 32 minutes, until a strikeout on his next trip to the plate, his batting average sat at .400.
This was shaping up to be the Summer of Steven. As he flirted with history — no big-leaguer has hit .400 in 83 years — he received a ton of attention. He topped the American League All-Star lineup. He fulfilled daily interview requests. He tormented opposing pitchers.
Through it all, he tried not to buy into the hype. He downplayed reporters’ questions about his torrid pace. He advised his dad to ditch social media whenever he sent his son stats or posts lauding his latest feat.
Kwan entered the Cleveland Guardians’ series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday with a .290/.361/.419 slash line. That’s worth commending, especially considering his jump in power, lack of strikeouts and ever-stellar defense in left field. On balance, Kwan has enjoyed another great season.
Since that early-summer surge, however, Kwan’s offensive numbers have plunged. He’s no longer flirting with .400. He’s flirting with .300.
And, as he noted, when mired in a funk this profound, it can be difficult to ignore the noise.
Kwan has never endured a stretch like this, and because it followed a stretch that had the baseball universe talking, it seems even more glaring, even if that’s unfair.
Kwan is Cleveland’s catalyst, always plugged into the top spot in manager Stephen Vogt’s order. He’s the primary reason José Ramírez and Josh Naylor have ranked among the league leaders in RBIs all season. The Guardians offense functions at its optimal rate when Kwan’s in a groove.
So why has it been so challenging to rediscover that groove?
Hitting coach Chris Valaika said he’s been working to keep Kwan thinking positively, which typically isn’t a concern for the steady left fielder, who is adamant about remaining neutral whether clicking or slumping. During a recent conversation between the two, Kwan said he was a bit naive in thinking that, in his third season in the majors, he had seen it all and knew what to expect.
“Then, it’s like, ‘Wow,’” Kwan said. “I see something new. I don’t know anything. I’m still so young.”
Kwan’s career has been defined by counteracting pitchers’ ever-shifting approach to him.
“Every year,” Valaika said, “there’s been something he’s had to grow and adjust to.”
Kwan broke into the big leagues with a smoldering bat, and pitchers quickly learned not to overlook him. He flaunted an elite contact ability and recorded a five-hit performance in his third career game.
Last season, pitchers realized Kwan preferred not to offer at the first pitch. Only Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman registered a lower first-pitch swing rate, so pitchers started attacking Kwan early in the count. So, Kwan started to swing more. (He once again ranks second, behind Rutschman, by the way.)
Vogt served as Seattle’s bullpen coach last season, and he said the Mariners’ game plan against Kwan was to throw it over the plate. Let him slap a single somewhere or hit it at a fielder. There was no use in attempting to convince him to chase some junk. There was no benefit in wasting pitches against a guy with an unparalleled grasp of the strike zone and an unmatched contact ability.
So, entering this season, Kwan made a concerted effort to capitalize on pitches he knew he could handle, even if it meant occasionally misfiring with a more aggressive swing. If pitchers were going to pepper the strike zone and invite him to turn a fastball down the middle into a harmless single, he had to present a more imposing threat.
As a result, he has more than doubled his career high in home runs, with 13 (and that’s while missing four weeks with a hamstring injury). Those home runs follow a pattern. Of the 13, all came on pitches over the middle of the plate or inside. Almost all are on heaters. Twelve of the 13 were pulled to right or right-center. (The other still landed on the right side of center field.)
It’s no secret: Those are the types of pitches Kwan intends to damage. He’s never targeting the outfield seats. He hasn’t fallen in love with a home run stroke. It’s merely a product of being more aggressive when the opportunity arises. He credits his “short limbs” for being able to turn on an inside pitch.
Pitchers have once again adjusted.
“That’s the cat-and-mouse of this,” Valaika said.
• Kwan’s first-half slash line: .352/.407/.513
• Kwan’s second-half slash line: .198/.297/.281
Pitchers are respecting his propensity to yank a fastball inside the foul pole. So they’re instead tossing him secondary stuff low and away and challenging him to sock a line drive to left field.
“He hasn’t gotten a lot of those mistakes of late,” Valaika said, “and when he has gotten them, he’s been missing them. He just needs to cover that hole right now and take his hits the other way to earn back the other side of the plate where he’s done his damage.
“That’s what the game’s asking right now. Go over there, take your hit, close that hole to allow yourself to do what you normally do.”
Kwan’s popup and whiff rates have soared. His line-drive rate has tumbled. His average exit velocity — already a low figure — has plummeted. Valaika said he has noticed more defensive swings, an atypical sight for a customarily confident hitter who knows exactly how he wants to attack a pitcher.
Kwan’s whiff rate
June: 3.9 percent
July: 10 percent
August: 8.6 percent
September: 15.9 percent
It’s natural for any hitter to desperately wave at any pitch that floats toward the zone to escape a skid. Kwan and Valaika said you can’t walk your way out of a slump, but you can exhibit more selectivity to earn a pitch you can handle. As such, Kwan has drawn 18 walks in his past 22 games and eight in his past six games. He also has recorded a hit in four consecutive contests, the first time he’s strung together a stretch like that in a month.
It’s a far cry from the sort of facts that accompanied his name earlier in the season, when he had nearly as many three-hit games as strikeouts. But Kwan never thought he’d hit .400 all season.
“If we were to end (the season) today,” Valaika said, “(about) .290 with 13 homers and almost an .800 OPS? Pretty damn good year.”
What’s helping Kwan persevere through a slide? The team’s place atop the standings. He said any struggles were far more debilitating last season when the Guardians fell out of the playoff chase in the middle of the summer. Why dwell on individual disappointment when there’s so much else to appreciate?
“You can justify a lot of things,” he said. “‘OK, I didn’t have the day I wanted, but I helped the team today.’ Our goal is to win the World Series. If you can contribute to that in any way, you feel like you’re helping the team. When you’re in a funk, it hurts to do poorly, but it hurts more to let your guys down around you.
“When you’re not playing meaningful baseball and then you’re not hitting and playing as well as you want, then a lot of noises get really loud and you have too much time to think about things that really aren’t important. Thankfully, today it’s like, ‘We need to win this game.’ And tomorrow it’s, ‘We need to win this game.’”
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 03: Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a two-run single in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on September 03, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
CLEVELAND — At 1:20 p.m. ET on June 20, Steven Kwan doubled to right field off Seattle Mariners starter Luis Castillo to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
For 32 minutes, until a strikeout on his next trip to the plate, his batting average sat at .400.
This was shaping up to be the Summer of Steven. As he flirted with history — no big-leaguer has hit .400 in 83 years — he received a ton of attention. He topped the American League All-Star lineup. He fulfilled daily interview requests. He tormented opposing pitchers.
Through it all, he tried not to buy into the hype. He downplayed reporters’ questions about his torrid pace. He advised his dad to ditch social media whenever he sent his son stats or posts lauding his latest feat.
Kwan entered the Cleveland Guardians’ series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday with a .290/.361/.419 slash line. That’s worth commending, especially considering his jump in power, lack of strikeouts and ever-stellar defense in left field. On balance, Kwan has enjoyed another great season.
Since that early-summer surge, however, Kwan’s offensive numbers have plunged. He’s no longer flirting with .400. He’s flirting with .300.
And, as he noted, when mired in a funk this profound, it can be difficult to ignore the noise.
Kwan has never endured a stretch like this, and because it followed a stretch that had the baseball universe talking, it seems even more glaring, even if that’s unfair.
Kwan is Cleveland’s catalyst, always plugged into the top spot in manager Stephen Vogt’s order. He’s the primary reason José Ramírez and Josh Naylor have ranked among the league leaders in RBIs all season. The Guardians offense functions at its optimal rate when Kwan’s in a groove.
So why has it been so challenging to rediscover that groove?
Hitting coach Chris Valaika said he’s been working to keep Kwan thinking positively, which typically isn’t a concern for the steady left fielder, who is adamant about remaining neutral whether clicking or slumping. During a recent conversation between the two, Kwan said he was a bit naive in thinking that, in his third season in the majors, he had seen it all and knew what to expect.
“Then, it’s like, ‘Wow,’” Kwan said. “I see something new. I don’t know anything. I’m still so young.”
Kwan’s career has been defined by counteracting pitchers’ ever-shifting approach to him.
“Every year,” Valaika said, “there’s been something he’s had to grow and adjust to.”
Kwan broke into the big leagues with a smoldering bat, and pitchers quickly learned not to overlook him. He flaunted an elite contact ability and recorded a five-hit performance in his third career game.
Last season, pitchers realized Kwan preferred not to offer at the first pitch. Only Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman registered a lower first-pitch swing rate, so pitchers started attacking Kwan early in the count. So, Kwan started to swing more. (He once again ranks second, behind Rutschman, by the way.)
Vogt served as Seattle’s bullpen coach last season, and he said the Mariners’ game plan against Kwan was to throw it over the plate. Let him slap a single somewhere or hit it at a fielder. There was no use in attempting to convince him to chase some junk. There was no benefit in wasting pitches against a guy with an unparalleled grasp of the strike zone and an unmatched contact ability.
So, entering this season, Kwan made a concerted effort to capitalize on pitches he knew he could handle, even if it meant occasionally misfiring with a more aggressive swing. If pitchers were going to pepper the strike zone and invite him to turn a fastball down the middle into a harmless single, he had to present a more imposing threat.
As a result, he has more than doubled his career high in home runs, with 13 (and that’s while missing four weeks with a hamstring injury). Those home runs follow a pattern. Of the 13, all came on pitches over the middle of the plate or inside. Almost all are on heaters. Twelve of the 13 were pulled to right or right-center. (The other still landed on the right side of center field.)
It’s no secret: Those are the types of pitches Kwan intends to damage. He’s never targeting the outfield seats. He hasn’t fallen in love with a home run stroke. It’s merely a product of being more aggressive when the opportunity arises. He credits his “short limbs” for being able to turn on an inside pitch.
Pitchers have once again adjusted.
“That’s the cat-and-mouse of this,” Valaika said.
• Kwan’s first-half slash line: .352/.407/.513
• Kwan’s second-half slash line: .198/.297/.281
Pitchers are respecting his propensity to yank a fastball inside the foul pole. So they’re instead tossing him secondary stuff low and away and challenging him to sock a line drive to left field.
“He hasn’t gotten a lot of those mistakes of late,” Valaika said, “and when he has gotten them, he’s been missing them. He just needs to cover that hole right now and take his hits the other way to earn back the other side of the plate where he’s done his damage.
“That’s what the game’s asking right now. Go over there, take your hit, close that hole to allow yourself to do what you normally do.”
Kwan’s popup and whiff rates have soared. His line-drive rate has tumbled. His average exit velocity — already a low figure — has plummeted. Valaika said he has noticed more defensive swings, an atypical sight for a customarily confident hitter who knows exactly how he wants to attack a pitcher.
Kwan’s whiff rate
June: 3.9 percent
July: 10 percent
August: 8.6 percent
September: 15.9 percent
It’s natural for any hitter to desperately wave at any pitch that floats toward the zone to escape a skid. Kwan and Valaika said you can’t walk your way out of a slump, but you can exhibit more selectivity to earn a pitch you can handle. As such, Kwan has drawn 18 walks in his past 22 games and eight in his past six games. He also has recorded a hit in four consecutive contests, the first time he’s strung together a stretch like that in a month.
It’s a far cry from the sort of facts that accompanied his name earlier in the season, when he had nearly as many three-hit games as strikeouts. But Kwan never thought he’d hit .400 all season.
“If we were to end (the season) today,” Valaika said, “(about) .290 with 13 homers and almost an .800 OPS? Pretty damn good year.”
What’s helping Kwan persevere through a slide? The team’s place atop the standings. He said any struggles were far more debilitating last season when the Guardians fell out of the playoff chase in the middle of the summer. Why dwell on individual disappointment when there’s so much else to appreciate?
“You can justify a lot of things,” he said. “‘OK, I didn’t have the day I wanted, but I helped the team today.’ Our goal is to win the World Series. If you can contribute to that in any way, you feel like you’re helping the team. When you’re in a funk, it hurts to do poorly, but it hurts more to let your guys down around you.
“When you’re not playing meaningful baseball and then you’re not hitting and playing as well as you want, then a lot of noises get really loud and you have too much time to think about things that really aren’t important. Thankfully, today it’s like, ‘We need to win this game.’ And tomorrow it’s, ‘We need to win this game.’”
Mott the Hoople
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Here's a prediction:
If Kwan recovers, and plays like he did early in the season - it will be a very long and happy October.
If Kwan recovers, and plays like he did early in the season - it will be a very long and happy October.
PocketMonger
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One stat I like tracking is who can post back to back seasons with an OPS of 800 or higher not named Jose Ramirez. Last guy to do it was Lindor in 2018-19. Naylor had a chance to break the streak this season but will probably fell short. Kwan can still get his OPS above 800 and could break the streak next season.
Damage
Suck my kiss
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EDIT: Josh hasn't been awful, just no timely hits