Chicago Steven Kwan’s game has several positive aspects. He is a contact hitter who can steal a base when necessary and convert a mishit pitch into a home run.
The defense comes next. His play in left field for the Guardians has earned him three Gold Gloves. He will participate in his second All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta for this reason, among others.
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Kwan’s arm range and strength are clearly visible. With eight assists, he leads all AL outfielders, and among big league left fielders, his range factor (assists + putouts divided by games played) is the highest.
When it comes to deking runners who happen to knock balls off the outfield wall that is constantly watching over Kwan’s shoulder, he has also mastered trickery throughout the years.
Hitters advance at their own peril if they hit a ball over Kwan’s head, regardless of whether it’s the Green Monster at Fenway Park, the 19-foot left field wall at Progressive Field, or any obstacle in between.
This is his method.
At Progressive Field, a batter lines a ball off the left field wall. Kwan rarely moves, depending on his position. Thinking Kwan is just going to catch the ball, the hitter-turned-runner may draw up or become confused, believing the ball is off the wall for a double.
In any case, Kwan wants him to slow down a little bit.
Kwan spins, makes a barehand catch, and throws a strike to second base as soon as the ball reaches the wall. When he executes it correctly, it becomes a single motion that requires slow motion viewing to fully understand.
“I’ve experimented with it and given it some thought over the years,” Kwan remarked. Though I haven’t done it in real life, I have considered doing it.
You should be fine if you follow the same procedure and simply let the ball hit the wall.
The outfielder charges an uncatchable line drive and lifts his glove as like he’s going to make the catch in the typical outfield deke. Kwan is not fond of that play.
Kwan replied, “That’s not a good deke.” You say, “I know he won’t catch it,” since you’ve seen it so many times. Something different must be seen to you.
Kwan is able to create that unique effect at Progressive Field thanks to the wall.
“It’s really easy in Cleveland because of the large wall,” Kwan added. You are aware of the ball’s trajectory. The safety net also appears unexpectedly in the form of the chain link. I can deke, and it will probably strike that chain link and fall immediately.
On the other hand, the ball will go off the Monster in Fenway. I must actually turn sooner in order to observe where it will go. However, in Cleveland, the ball will frequently fall straight down. That’s how I feel more at ease.
Because the 37-foot Green Monster is so close to home plate, people think they’re going to hit it off the wall, and the ball comes off the wall hard, making it more difficult to deke a runner at Fenway, according to Kwan.
What exactly did we achieve if I deke and the runner finishes in third place?
Ichiro Suzuki, a Hall of Fame outfielder, was one of Kwan’s favorite players while he was growing up in the Bay Area. The deke seed was sown in Kwan’s mind by Ichiro.
“This entire journey was initiated by Ichiro,” Kwan remarked. Ichiro played for the Marlins, and I saw him at the Giants ballpark. A hit occurred in the void. The game ended when Ichiro dekes the runner, preventing him from winning by running from first to home. He pauses at third.
That made me think about it. He was quite composed. He turned around after a brief backpedal jog as if he was going to catch it. It was awesome.
What happened in Houston?
After dropping ten straight games, how could the Guardians defeat the Astros in a three-game series at Daikin Park?
According to manager Stephen Vogt, “We faced three really good pitchers and we followed our (hitting plan) as we have in any three games this season.” Good things happen when guys are committed to the plan. Because of the nature of our game, strong pitching will always outperform good hitting.
However, I thought all three games had outstanding at-bat quality.
The Guardians faced Colton Gordon, All-Star Hunter Brown and Brandon Walter. They scored six runs off of Brown, the most he has given up this season, and defeated lefties Gordon and Walter.
The Guards have improved to 9-19 against left-handed starters.
End in sight
The All-Star break begins Monday for every team in the big leagues.
We have four days to push and then we all get four days off, said Vogt. Everybody needs the All-Star break. We all require four days. But we have four more games.
In our group, everybody is talking about it. The energy we re going to bring. The excitement we have. It s been a rough five weeks for us. Then we have three games against a real good team to remind us that we re a good team too.
