Steven Kwan Led Guardians, MLB In This Hustle Stat

The Cleveland Guardians felt Steven Kwan's impact on the base paths in a variety of ways.

The Cleveland Guardians team as we know it is constructed based on a number of key things: defense, contact hitting, and aggressive base running. One player perfectly encapsulates all three of these, left fielder Steven Kwan.

Cleveland knows they always have a solid chance of getting a run-in when Kwan gets on first because of how he is constantly looking to go from first to third whenever the ball is put in play.

Kwan led baseball from first to third when the play resulted in a single, according to @CodifyBaseball on X. This is something he did 32 times in 2023. J.P. Crawford of the Seattle Mariners and Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs were right behind him doing this 31 times.

Jun 22, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan (38) scores on a wild pitch as Oakland Athletics catcher Carlos Perez (44) retrieves the ball during the eighth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The only reason that a player is able to accomplish a stat such as this is because of pure hustle. 

Kwan's XBT% finished at 48% at the end of the 2023 season, per Baseball Reference. This is a stat that measures "the number of times a runner advanced more than one base on a single or more than two bases on a double."

It also helps that Kwan is one of the fastest players in baseball too. He ranked in the 69th percentile in sprint speed last season.

All of this is what makes Kwan such an effective leadoff hitter for the Guardians. He gets on base at a high rate and makes things happen on the base paths. Hustle is something that doesn't typically regress, so it'd be wise to expect this same playstyle out of Kwan moving forward.