History Tells Us That Steven Kwan Should Be The American League Rookie Of The Year
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One of the most exciting conversations this season has been who will be the American League Rookie Of The Year. There is so much young talent that teams have called up and they're actually producing too.
Unfortunately for Steven Kwan, his name hasn't been brought up that much unless you're from Cleveland. And it definitely should be.
The two frontrunners are easily the Mariners' Julio Rodriguez and Orioles' Adley Rutschman. Nothing against either of these players, they've been great. But Kwan should easily be the winner or at least in the conversation for it.
For those who want to make the argument, "Well, Rodriguez and Rutschman have made a bigger impact on their team." Well, Kwan is batting .299 with a .714 as a leadoff hitter on a team who currently sits first in their division. If that's not a substantial impact, I don't know what is.
Right now, Kwan is slashing .287/.365/.740 with 139 hits and 39 RBI overall on the season. Let's see how that stacks up with the last few winners of the award:
Randy Arozarena - 2021
Last season, Randy Arozarena came onto the scene and immediately made an impact for the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit .274 while slugging .459 and racked up 145 hits in the 141 games he's played.
Arozarena does have Kwan beat with 69 RBI. However, Randy was hitting in the middle of the order where RBI or more was expected. Kwan's job as the leadoff man is to get on base which he does.
Some may look at Kwan's age (24) and say that it's a reason why he isn't in the conversation more. That didn't seem to be a problem for Arozarena who was 26 last season.
Kyle Lewis - 2020
We all remember the shortened 2020 season. What a weird sprint to the playoffs that was. But in all of the chaos, Kyle Lewis made his presence known and won ROY.
He slashed .262/.364/.437 over 58 games.
Kwan's numbers are much better than Lewis' were and Kwan has been able to do for a much longer period of time. Even though that's no fault of Lewis'.
Yordan Alvarez - 2019
There's no other way to put it. Yordan Alvarez was a beast in 2019 and he continues to be a beast today. He had a .313 batting average with a 1.067 OPS while hitting 27 home runs in his rookie season.
Kwan can't compare to those power numbers, but this was over only the second half of the season. Kwan has been producing the entire year and it's called "Rookie Of The Year" for a reason.
Only time will tell whether or not Kwan does win the award. But looking at who has won it in the past and what their numbers are, Kwan is certainly worthy of it.
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