Believe it! Steven Kwan is one of MLB's best outfielders

Everyone in Cleveland has known for quite some time just how talented Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan is. But with his substance over style type of play, Kwan may have still flown under the radar of the casual baseball fan, or at least those whose favorite team does not reside in the American League Central division. And while that could have been somewhat forgiven leading up to this past season, there is no longer any excuse to not be aware of how good of a player that Steven Kwan is. The reason? Kwan was just named as one of the best outfielders in all of baseball.

Appearing in Joel Reuter's Ranking the Top 25 Outfielders of the 2024 MLB Season appearing on Bleacher Report, Kwan came in at number 10 on this list. Kwan slashed .292/.368/.425 with 16 doubles and a career-high 14 home runs in 122 games last season, but it was his ability to reach base via base on balls more than strike out that garnered extra attention from Reuter.

With 53 walks, 51 strikeouts and five hit-by-pitches in 540 plate appearances, Kwan put the ball in play in nearly 80 percent of his trips to the plate. He also earned a well-deserved first All-Star selection, starting the game in left field for the American League.

Even though walks, low strikeout rate, and hit-by-pitches will not make the nightly highlight reel, being able to be a consistent presence is incredibly valuable and can help elevate the overall performance of a team. That is what Kwan provides and is a major factor as to why he is ranked 10th overall by Reuter in this particular list.

This past season was an encouraging one for Kwan when it comes to his offensive production. For the first time in his career, he hit double-digit home runs, and there is a good chance he gets closer to 20 if he was not sidelined for most of May. The power trajectory over his first three seasons suggests that he is capable of hitting more home runs and if that turns out to be the case, could be a solid source of power threat that resides at the top of the Guardians' lineup for years to come.