Steven Kwan Deserves To Be Talked About In The Rookie Of The Year Race
The American League has seen a fantastic batch of rookies this season and they are proving that baseball is going to be in great hands for a long time. Right now the two leading candidates to win the American League Rookie of The Year for the American League are Julio Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman.
These are two fantastic players, but Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan needs to start getting some love and attention to win ROY too. Let's break it down.
Kwan, Rodriguez, and Rutschman all have different play styles. Kwan is a contact first hitter, Rodriguez relies a lot on his power, and Rutschman is playing one of the hardest defensive positions while still being one of the best hitters on the Orioles. But we can still compare some of the most impressive stat categories.
Out of all three, Kwan easily has the best batting average and it isn't really close. He is batting .301 this season versus Rodriguez's .266 and Rutschman's .255. Kwan also has 119 hits this season which is more than Rodriguez. (It makes sense Adley wouldn't have as many hits since he was called up during the season.)
Rutscman has the best OPS out of the three with a .821 but Julio isn't too far behind with a .792 and Kwan is just behind him with a .772.
Kwan also has been praised a lot for his defensive ability. He has seven assists this year and a handful of incredible catches in left field that shouldn't be ignored.
One argument that people love to make when it comes to these kinds of awards is how well the team as a whole did. But as of the writing of this story, each team is in its own playoff race. The Guardians lead the AL Central, the Mariners are two games up in the Wild Card and the Orioles are only a game and a half out of a playoff spot when they had little to no expectations for this season.
Each player has helped put their team in a position to win.
In the end, Kwan may not end up winning the award. But that shouldn't stop people from dismissing him in the conversation. He's had an incredible season and proven to be just as good as the two front runners.
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