{"id":124,"date":"2025-04-26T00:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T00:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/124\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T00:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T00:13:13","slug":"the-rise-of-steven-kwan-how-a-mental-edge-has-helped-unlock-an-undersized-mlb-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/124\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of Steven Kwan: How a \u2018mental edge\u2019 has helped unlock an undersized MLB star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic\u2019s new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CLEVELAND \u2014 Steven Kwan grabs a black coffee from the Starbucks in the back corner of the Barnes & Noble at Crocker Park, the shopping district in the west side suburbs of Cleveland. Then, he roams the self-help and non-fiction aisles.<\/p>\n

This is his sanctuary, far from the suffocating pressure of a batter\u2019s box. And yet, every step through this bookstore prepares him for those battles with a pitcher later that evening.<\/p>\n

Kwan retreats to the balcony of his residence to complete at least two of his three daily tasks as he eats breakfast and sips that coffee. He scribbles notes into his journal. He meditates. And, if there\u2019s time, he reads. His modest target is 10 pages per day.<\/p>\n

These are self-assigned responsibilities, developed during his climb to the big leagues. Those practices have rescued him from failure at Oregon State, from uncertainty in the minors and from his toughest days at the highest level.<\/p>\n

Now, Kwan is an All-Star left fielder whose well-rounded profile is only burgeoning with the Guardians. He\u2019s a leader teammates flock to for advice. He\u2019s a union rep, a Gold Glover, a batting title candidate who irritates pitchers with his unparalleled plate discipline, contact ability and a newfound power stroke.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a 5-foot-8, 170-pound menace at the plate who has compensated for physical limitations by pursuing competitive advantages on the mental side.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the human aspects of overcoming failure, doubt, fear, all these things that creep in on a daily basis, is the hardest part of this game,\u201d says teammate Austin Hedges. \u201cHe\u2019s such a great inspiration for everybody because he acknowledges it and gives everybody a strategy for how to overcome it. \u2026 \u2018This is the stuff that works for me, and if you want some help with it, I\u2019m here with arms wide open.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the four tenets that have helped Kwan become one of baseball\u2019s best-kept secrets.<\/p>\n

1. \u2018We\u2019re terrible predictors of the future.\u2019<\/p>\n

Kwan once read in a book that humans are poor prognosticators, a simple line that encouraged him to stop wasting time and energy worrying about upcoming at-bats or potential transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point in thinking about what could happen a week from today or three days from now,\u201d he says. \u201cAll we have is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t think that way as a freshman at Oregon State, and it nearly cost him.<\/p>\n

The assignment was simple: Kwan had to swing by a meet-and-greet full of distinguished business people in ritzy suits. If, after some icebreakers, he could convince one of the power brokers to sign a sticky note, he\u2019d receive 20 points of extra credit for his finance class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe easiest opportunity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even give myself a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a freshman on a loaded Oregon State roster, it was difficult for Kwan to see the path forward. When he notched a couple hits, he didn\u2019t collect as many as Nick Madrigal. He didn\u2019t pummel baseballs over the fence like Adley Rutschman and Trevor Larnach. He suffered from impostor syndrome. He still does, to an extent.<\/p>\n

When Kwan was 18, a Toronto Blue Jays scout told him: \u201cIf you were bigger, you\u2019d be getting drafted. You wouldn\u2019t be going to school.\u201d It was a backhanded compliment, but it stuck with him.<\/p>\n

Kwan\u2019s approach at the time was to complete the bare minimum required to qualify as a student-athlete and avoid study hall. He thought \u201cthat was as high of achieving as it gets.\u201d He had a midterm exam in Math 111 the same day the video game \u201cFallout 4\u201d was released. He decided he\u2019d try out the game for 20 minutes and then cram for his test. Instead, he played until 3 a.m., failed his midterm and rushed to study hall to rescue his dismal grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so irresponsible, just lying to myself, (seeking) instant gratification,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He had no schedule, no routine and no semblance of a priority list. None of that mattered to him because he had baseball, though he was suffering through a rotten freshman season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put all my eggs in this basket,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich is funny, because I didn\u2019t even really believe in it. It wasn\u2019t a good plan. I knew a complete overhaul was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kwan began to define himself and his goals in his time at Oregon State. (Steven Branscombe \/ USA Today)<\/p>\n

When Kwan was a freshman, Oregon State coaches pushed each player to identify an uncomfortably lofty goal. Kwan, who hit .215 that year, declared he wanted to be \u201cthe best Asian-American baseball player to ever play.\u201d Now, that doesn\u2019t seem so far-fetched. But then?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust blind hope and faith,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to make sure you love baseball. That was the one absolute in my life. It made sense in my mind that if I love baseball enough, it would reward me back. I just had to find my way. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a plan. It wasn\u2019t a certain way. It was just, \u2018I know I need to hit as much as possible. I know I need to rework my mental game. And it\u2019s going to work out.\u2019 I didn\u2019t give myself another option.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Kwan arrived at his first big-league spring training in 2022, he had given up trying to map out his future. He wasn\u2019t banking on making the Opening Day roster, especially since the lockout had shortened camp to a few weeks, not nearly enough time to leave a profound impression on the team\u2019s evaluators.<\/p>\n

He did make the roster, though. He collected 10 hits and seven walks in his first five games. He stuck in the big leagues and never looked back \u2014 or too far forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to believe I believed it,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I don\u2019t think I ever could have imagined it would be something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u2018The easiest thing you can do to make yourself happier is have daily gratitude.\u2019<\/p>\n

When he stands on the foul line during the national anthem, Kwan completes a calming breathing ritual. His heart tries to escape his chest as the clock ticks toward first pitch. That never changes. So, he takes a deep inhale and replays memorable moments from previous games at that particular ballpark.<\/p>\n

In Chicago, he reminisces about heated games in September 2022 that decided the AL Central. In Detroit, he imagines Miguel Cabrera\u2019s final game and David Fry\u2019s season-salvaging home run in the 2024 ALDS. In Kansas City, he recalls his first weekend in the majors, when his parents spent three days clapping and hollering and he whacked one pitch after another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes me from crippling, paralyzed fear,\u201d he says, \u201cto a baseline of neutrality. I think I\u2019ve been successful because I\u2019ve been so neutral, so level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than three months into his big-league career, he was Cleveland\u2019s leadoff hitter, having earned trust as a rookie from a grizzled manager in Terry Francona. Last season, he flirted with a .400 batting average in July. Twice in three years, he has thrived on the postseason stage. All along, he has spoken about his exploits as if he\u2019s a 25-handicap golfer who somehow avoided the lake looming beside the green. The modest approach keeps him grateful and keeps him from becoming complacent, he says. He tells himself this \u201clifestyle isn\u2019t real, isn\u2019t permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start getting used to all this stuff,\u201d he says, \u201cthat\u2019s when people change or your mentality shifts. Having that constant gratitude puts you in a regular person\u2019s mindset, as opposed to, \u2018This is my life. This is going to be forever. This is who I am now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an approach he derived from \u201cThe Art of Impossible<\/a>,\u201d a \u201cpeak performance primer\u201d in which author Steven Kotler outlines the steps \u201cto accomplish the impossible.\u201d Kwan considered the book \u201ca cheat code\u201d when he read it a few years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing gracious for a lot of things that happen is the secret to a lot of people being happier and more fulfilled,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is a moment in my life that\u2019s going to pass,\u201d he says, \u201cbut right now, this is super cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. \u201cComparison is the thief of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the family home in Fremont, Calif., Kwan\u2019s room still tells the story of a kid who wanted to be a big leaguer. There\u2019s a wall with a collage of player cutouts \u2014 Ichiro, Carl Crawford, Moises Alou \u2014 that Kwan\u2019s older sister created. Baseball was always the plan, even if he admits he didn\u2019t truly buy into his potential until he was on the cusp of the majors.<\/p>\n

He believed in his skills, but he was hamstrung by the nagging feeling that the inherent traits \u2014 his hand\/eye coordination, contact ability and instincts on the diamond \u2014 could only get him so far. He had a ceiling, and it wasn\u2019t much higher than his diminutive frame. Or, at least, that\u2019s what he was led to believe, until he decided to stop worrying about what others had or did, and focused on what he could do.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod didn\u2019t just make him Aaron Judge,\u201d says Guardians catcher Austin Hedges. \u201c(Steven) has things to overcome. To be as great as he is, he has to do even more. He\u2019s the most mentally prepared and tough person in the game. That mental edge allows him to be the best leadoff hitter in the game, without being a 6-foot-4, 220-pound physical specimen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even as Steven Kwan has developed more of a power stroke, at times he\u2019s found himself explaining it away. (Jason Miller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Even when he hit enough to stick in the majors, a similarly profiling Luis Arraez won batting crowns. Other hitters supplied more muscle. When he added power to his arsenal, he attributed it to having \u201cshorter limbs\u201d that allow him to yank an inside fastball into the outfield seats, rather than acknowledge how frustrating a matchup he is for any pitcher. Working to shut out that nagging voice is a constant battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it ever goes away,\u201d he said. \u201cYou gain little bits of confidence as you go, and as you see the results in front of you, you gain a little more and a little more. But I don\u2019t know if that voice ever really leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. \u2018There are infinite universes and everything has happened before and this is the universe where X, Y and Z happen.\u2019<\/p>\n

Twice last winter, Kwan was spotted in downtown Chicago. Once, at a Korean grocery store, by a Clevelander who recognized his beloved hometown leadoff hitter. The second time, a card shark scoped him out as Kwan shopped near where the Bears stay the night before a home game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a little bit jarring,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s our oasis. I just want to be a regular person there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t consider himself anything but. Kwan is quick to reject any attempt to build him up as more than an ordinary person who has found a niche slapping singles across the outfield. When Kwan was approached about pulling a sword from a basketball during the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 pregame introductions ahead of Game 2 of their series against the Miami Heat on Wednesday, he insisted a throng of teammates join him on the court.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t covet the attention, but he\u2019s learning that it\u2019s part of the job. After all, as he and former minor-league teammate Cody Farhat used to tell each other, this is one of a boundless number of simulations, and Kwan just so happens to be living out the one in which he\u2019s an All-Star who can\u2019t mill around the third-largest city in the country without being spotted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quickly becoming a household name and a very prominent big leaguer that everyone knows,\u201d Hedges said.<\/p>\n

The All-Star Game nod last year planted him on the national radar. He led off for an American League lineup that had Gunnar Henderson, Juan Soto and Judge hitting behind him.<\/p>\n

He struggled to wrap his head around taking a private jet to Dallas for the festivities and marveled at how teammate Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez, a perennial All-Star, handles the pressures and responsibilities of the week, year after year.<\/p>\n

When it\u2019s suggested that Kwan, like Ram\u00edrez, could become a regular participant in the exhibition, Kwan shrugs it off and contends \u201cjust being mentioned in the same sentence is cool.\u201d In another universe, he reminds himself, he never would have sniffed the majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just a wild (outcome) that has taken off and gone beyond my wildest dreams,\u201d he says. \u201cSo many things have lined up and worked out so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, he embraces those first-pitch jitters. He accepts that he\u2019s a familiar face to the public. He welcomes the frantic pace of All-Star week.<\/p>\n

And he keeps reading, searching for the next principle that will help prolong a career that\u2019s off to a blistering start.<\/p>\n

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb \/ The Athletic; Photo: Daniel Shirey \/ MLB Photos \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic\u2019s new desk covering leadership, personal development and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,51,4,166,165],"class_list":{"0":"post-124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cleveland-guardians","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-peak","12":"tag-sports-business"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}