Major League Baseball player Steven Kwan, who is an outfielder for the Cleveland Guardians, has made the MLB Network’s top 100 players list. He came 66th in the rankings, according to cleveland.com.
Kwan had an incredible 2022 season, his first in the MLB. Within the first four games, he got on base 15 times, becoming the first player since 1901 to do so. At the end of the season, he was nominated for Rookie of the Year.
The outfielder also won the Gold Glove, which goes to the best defensive player at each position in each league. He gave credit to his teammates and coaches.
“It just starts with leadership at the top,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I think if the vets didn’t care about defense then obviously us younger guys wouldn’t care either. It shows that our team is fully faceted and every angle of the game is important so when you have older guys that care about defense it makes it easier for the younger guys coming up.”
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Kwan said he tried to enjoy the newness of his rookie year.
“Last year I made a big point to really soak up a lot of stuff, be starry-eyed, be really shocked at where I was,” he said. “I think that was a good place to be, but I also lost out on some opportunities because I was like, ‘How lucky am I to be here?’ Now, I’ll take some more initiative.”
After a relaxing winter break, he hopes to help the team, even more, this year.
“Once I came back,” he told The Athletic, “I felt like I had a fresh start and I could really look toward 2023.”
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