Steven Kwan Loses Out On American League Rookie Of The Year To Mariners' Julio Rodriguez

Cleveland Guardians outfielder, Steven Kwan, came in third place in the American League Rookie of the Year race.

Author:
Tommy Wild
Nov 14, 2022 7:20 PM EST

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It was always going to be a tough ask for Steven Kwan to win Rookie of the Year. He was up against some of the best competition we've seen in the last few years and some of the prospects he was up against have been followed since the day they were drafted. For good reason too.

Kwan finished the voting in third place. Baltimore's Adley Rutschman came in second place and Julio Rodriguez took the crown and the honors as the 2022 American League Rookie of the Year.

Congrats to him!

It's hard to say that Julio didn't deserve the award. He had a .284 batting average, a .853 OPS, stole 25 bases, and hit 28 home runs during the regular season.

He did all of this while also leading the Seattle Mariners back to the postseason for the first time since 2001. He is already a legend in the making!

Kwan not winning ROY is definitely disappointing, especially because Cleveland fans know how much he meant to the team during the regular season. The Guardians wouldn't have made it to the postseason or ALDS without Kwan in leftfield just about every day from April until October.

Not having the trophy in his hands does not take away any part of what he did this season. Kwan had a .298 BA, 53 RBI, and a .773 OPS. There's a great chance that we're just scratching the surface of the player he could turn into.

One thing I will say about this rookie class is that we baseball fans are more than lucky. The ballot is full of some future superstars if they aren't considered so already.

Rutschman was a massive part of the Orioles' resurgence this season, Bobby Witt Jr. looks like he could be one of the best defensive infielders in the league in a few years, and Jeremy Pena already has a World Series MVP to his name.

Kwan may not have won, but baseball definitely has.

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