Here’s How Pinball And Chess Help The Best Hitter In Baseball
Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan will start in left field Tuesday night at the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas. Right now, he’s the best hitter in Major League Baseball.
Kwan is hitting .363, 40 points higher than the number two hitter. In his first two seasons in the big leagues, Kwan didn’t hit .300. This kid almost left baseball after his freshman season at Oregon State because he was having trouble at the plate.
Kwan remade his swing in college, and now he’s opening eyes in the baseball world, “It's just a testament to the work he put in all off-season, all spring training, and so far this year,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.
Steven Kwan is not your average baseball star; he has unique passions that could help him play baseball.
Did Pinball Help Kwan Become A Good Hitter?
Growing up in the suburbs of San Jose, California, Kwan spent his summers playing pinball. That may be one reason he’s such a good hitter.
Kwan mastered hand-eye coordination in his grandmother’s garage with an old pinball machine; watch him hit, and you can see how well he handles the bat. He spent hours and days playing the space-themed machine.
Kwan rarely swings at balls out of the strike zone. In his rookie year, 2022, he took 116 pitches before he swung and missed. Before this season started, he tried to swing and miss intentionally at a Chicago batting cage. Kwan said he needed to get to a point where he accepted it. He had to learn how to shrug it off.
Kwan Dominates Chess Club
It’s not just pinball; Kwan’s other passion is chess. In his rookie season, he co-founded the Cleveland Guardians Chess Club. The club grew when Kwan and former teammate Will Benson played before games. Chess now dominates the Guardians’ clubhouse.
The Guardians club regularly competes against a Cleveland high school chess club. Kwan is good, but he says he’s not good enough to beat the students at John Marshall High School,
“I’ve accepted that I can’t beat them. So I just go out there and detach and have some fun and maybe they’ll teach me one thing, but they’re way too good.”
This year, chess.com sponsored a charity chess tournament featuring the Guardians, and of course, Kwan won the championship.
Can Kwan Make A Run At .400?
Teammates say Kwan has the mental makeup of a guy who could handle the attention and pressure of trying to hit .400. Most mornings, he spends 10-15 minutes meditating. Kwan says it centers him and allows him to block out negative thoughts.
It’s been over 80 years since a major league player hit .400 (Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941).
“I mean, the way our game is played now, it’s challenging to hit .400. With all the information that we have, where guys are positioning, just the advancements in the game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It takes somebody who can make contact consistently and hit the ball all over the field. But could it be done again? Yeah, I think it could, but it’s tough. But I would definitely say Kwanie has the skill set to do it."
Kwan’s Success Leads The Guardians
Steven Kwan’s success surprised some, and so did his team. The Guardians were not supposed to be this good. As of July 11th, they’re in first place in the American League Central with a six-game lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins.
Manager Stephen Vogt says Kwan is just one piece of the puzzle.
“Every time we turn the lineup over, it’s like we just speed up and go and he’s been the catalyst all year that gets us started. Everything about what (Kwan) is doing has been special.”
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