Steven Kwan Appreciation Thread

[shoes22]

Four hit game yesterday. This guy is the real deal. Could not ask for a better leadoff hitter.

 

[CATS44]

The job of a leadoff batter is to get on base.

By month Kwans OBP:

459
271
412
347
386
387

Overall...373

Carlos Santana has had two seasons in which his OBP was at least .370. In his career, its .359.

Brantley has had three full seasons in which he put up at least .370. Overall, he's at .356.

 

[Ohio]

 

[Alabuckeye]

Is this iteration of Steven Kwan sustainable?

is he playing over his head? Not following the MiL much, I’ve been blind to him till this season

 

[Criznit]

Is this iteration of Steven Kwan sustainable?

is he playing over his head? Not following the MiL much, I’ve been blind to him till this season

He is playing the game you'd expect/hope for him to play based on MILB numbers... FWIW - there is probably a smidge more in game power (think 10+ dingers for a season) yet to be actualized.

His extremely well refined approach has shown up along with quality/good defense - at a position he played secondary before MLB. We are now justifiably asking ourselves where the ceiling is.

 

[petes999]

He is playing the game you'd expect/hope for him to play based on MILB numbers... FWIW - there is probably a smidge more in game power (think 10+ dingers for a season) yet to be actualized.

To add on, he is hitting .295/.321 on BA/BABIP which is around his norm (taking away his even higher numbers his first year which was <100 ABs.
2 Full seasons .280/.305 and .328/.335. Total 2+ year average = .301/.320. So, this year (including .173 BA in May trying to adj) is his career average. So, I can see a touch higher when he fully settles in (less swings in ups and downs).

As I said repeatedly, I will take a 300 hitter no matter the power level any day of the week.

 

[CDAV45]

He is playing the game you'd expect/hope for him to play based on MILB numbers... FWIW - there is probably a smidge more in game power (think 10+ dingers for a season) yet to be actualized.

His extremely well refined approach has shown up along with quality/good defense - at a position he played secondary before MLB. We are now justifiably asking ourselves where the ceiling is.

Let me start this off by saying I'm a Kwan fan. He's everything you'd want in a lead off hitter IMO. My disagreement begins with the idea that he'll hit "10+ dingers for a season". He has one zone for minimal power and that is down and in. Frankly, I don't know why any pitcher would throw a pitch there for a strike to him. He has absolutely no power in any other part of the zone and certainly doesn't project to develop any, but that's ok because we don't need him to. We need him to do exactly what he's doing now. Rack up hits, take walks, play good defense and run the bases well. Providing power isn't his burden to carry IMO.

 

[Criznit]

Let me start this off by saying I'm a Kwan fan. He's everything you'd want in a lead off hitter IMO. My disagreement begins with the idea that he'll hit "10+ dingers for a season". He has one zone for minimal power and that is down and in. Frankly, I don't know why any pitcher would throw a pitch there for a strike to him. He has absolutely no power in any other part of the zone and certainly doesn't project to develop any, but that's ok because we don't need him to. We need him to do exactly what he's doing now. Rack up hits, take walks, play good defense and run the bases well. Providing power isn't his burden to carry IMO.

FWIW... I have never considered you a Kwan fan until recently.. Feel free to dig up all the 4th OFer post(s) you want...

His ability to put the bat on the ball is excellent. He has shown the the ability to "park it"... Frankly I think he'll hit a minimum of 8 homers (OMG - the power!) next year... He never played a MLB game before 2022.

Mine your own posts if you want, you've never been a fan until he put up/shut up. And 8-13 homers for 2023 seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Guess we will see, if anyone wants to bet on a "healthy" Kwan doubling his HR totals or more in 2023 message me.

 

[KluberSociety]

Let me start this off by saying I'm a Kwan fan. He's everything you'd want in a lead off hitter IMO. My disagreement begins with the idea that he'll hit "10+ dingers for a season". He has one zone for minimal power and that is down and in. Frankly, I don't know why any pitcher would throw a pitch there for a strike to him. He has absolutely no power in any other part of the zone and certainly doesn't project to develop any, but that's ok because we don't need him to. We need him to do exactly what he's doing now. Rack up hits, take walks, play good defense and run the bases well. Providing power isn't his burden to carry IMO.

I have no way of verifying what you said about his power zone but pitchers miss their targets. You can think of hyperagressive hitters like OGonz or Amed. Why do pitchers ever throw them pitches in the middle of the zone? Not by intent...

 

[CDAV45]

FWIW... I have never considered you a Kwan fan until recently.. Feel free to dig up all the 4th OFer post(s) you want...

His ability to put the bat on the ball is excellent. He has shown the the ability to "park it"... Frankly I think he'll hit a minimum of 8 homers (OMG - the power!) next year... He never played a MLB game before 2022.

Mine your own posts if you want, you've never been a fan until he put up/shut up. And 8-13 homers for 2023 seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Guess we will see, if anyone wants to bet on a "healthy" Kwan doubling his HR totals or more in 2023 message me.

I'm sure I mentioned him as a possible 4th OFer before because his bat doesn't profile as a corner OFer, but he can play all 3. That's not even an issue if our CFer can bring a little more than normal, but he hasn't hit a single fucking HR in 496 AB. I think you're twisting shit here and I'm not sure why?

I don't need to "mine my posts" because I know what I said and nothing has really changed. To say that "I've never been a fan" is absolutely false. I did not see him as a corner OFer and as long as we have a weak hitting CFer then I don't like the overall OF structure. None of that has anything to do with me being a fan of him leading off. He's a fantastic leadoff hitter. Couldn't really have an opinion on that until he became one now could we?

I'll take that bet on doubling his HR because it isn't likely to happen. It doesn't need to happen. 8-13 HR seems laughable to me after he's hit 4 in 508 AB and he's pretty much maxed out physically. Factor in the league has seen him for a full season and there could easily be a slight downturn next season.

This is from 1/30 "The more I look into prospects the more I find myself following the performances and disregarding the hype/projection. Kwan for example. Never gave him any attention because he wasn't cracking any lists. Meanwhile, he's arguably the best damn hitter in the system."

The next one I found was from 2/3:

If there are no roster transactions between now and opening day, what player without an MLB plate appearance do you see breaking camp with Guardians?

Kwan(me)

This from 2/4 "For me at this time, Kwan is a CFer or 4th OFer. Hopefully he hits the ground running and doesn't stumble like Miller did. I wouldn't give up on him if he did. There's just too much history of him being an excellent hitter and all the peripherals point to him having success."

Another from 2/4 "
Keeping Zimmer and Mercado would be a waste of time. They did that last year so the "test" should be over. It's time for some fresh meat. I'd leave camp with Kwan and Palacios before I would Zimmer and Mercado.

Take away Jones' power and he doesn't compare to Kwan or Palacios. It's the intrigue of the possibilities should Jones translate that power to Cleveland that gives us hope. Otherwise he isn't that great of a hitter."

I'll keep looking for one that suggests that I'm not a fan until recently and if I find it I'll post it here.

 

[DCTribefan]

 

[DCTribefan]

 

[DCTribefan]

 

[DCTribefan]

 

[DCTribefan]