Steven Kwan Not Likely To See Any Regression In 2023
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Not many people, if any, thought this time last year that Steven Kwan would be a Rookie of the Year finalist after the 2022 season. Yet, in his first season in the Majors, he emerged as one of the best hitters on the Guardians while also being a left field defensive staple.
With a season as good as Kwan had, it's only natural to wonder whether he'll suffer from any regression. However, that doesn't seem likely to happen for a couple of reasons.
Kwan made a name for himself with how well he performed at the plate. He didn't hit home runs or for power, but he did make pitchers work and he still got on base.
This plate discipline is why Kwan will likely pick up right where he left off in 2023.
In 2022, the outfielder ranked in the 100th percentile in K% and Wiff% and the 96th percentile in chase rate. This sort of elite plate presence can't be taught and it's just something that clearly comes naturally for Kwan.
Kwan already went through an adjustment period and proved to come out of it even stronger. He had a very rough month of May where he hit .173 and only had 13 hits in 85 plate appearances. This could've crushed a young hitter with it only being in his second month in the Major League.
Not for Kwan.
He bounced back to have a month of June with a .801 OPS and double the number of hits he had in May. Even though Kwan wasn't hitting a lot in May, he wasn't striking out either. In those 85 plate appearances, he only struck out six times. This shows that even if Kwan begins to slump, he can use his plate discipline to get him right back out of it.
There's a chance we don't see Kwan hit .300 again, but even if it's .285 or .290 that wouldn't be enough to consider him to be regressing. Plus as long as he keeps his OPS up then he'll continue to be an effective lead-off hitter.
At the end of the day, Kwan is a pure hitter. He sits in the box, waits for the right pitch, and then attacks it. He'll continue to be a fantastic Big League player as long as he keeps this mindset.
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