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Guardians rookie Steven Kwan is off to a historic start — and a profitable one, courtesy of the new collective bargaining agreement.
After going 1-for-3 with two walks against the Royals on Monday, Kwan has now reached base 15 times in his first four MLB games — the most for any player since at least 1901.
The 24-year-old picked the right season to make his mark in MLB, as the rookie minimum increased 22.7% from 2021 due to the negotiations ending the 99-day lockout.
- Kwan is earning $700,000 — up $129,500 from last season’s minimum ($570,500).
- The 2018 fifth-rounder inked a $185,000 signing bonus — below the $303,400 allotted.
- In his first 26 swings of his career, Kwan hasn’t had a swing-and-miss.
- In 19 plate appearances, he has six singles, two doubles, a triple, and five walks to slash .692/.790/1.000.
With Kwan producing in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, the Guardians (2-2) have scored the most runs in MLB (28) and have a league-leading plus-14 run differential. Cleveland, which hasn’t won the World Series since 1948, was a minus-10 last season.
Kwan’s blistering start bumped his odds to win AL Rookie of the Year from +4,500 to +1,600.
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