Yesterday (April 10). a couple of MLB rookies who made their debuts “in the show” this season – Hunter Greene and Steven Kwan opened some eyes across baseball. In this post, Baseball Roundtable will look at these two players and three others who have made quite a splash in their first 100 hours or so in the MLB pool.
Steven Kwan, outfield, Guardians
The 24-year-old Kwan may be only 5’9’ and 170 pounds, but the left-handed batter has been playing big. Yesterday, in just his third MLB game, he went five-for-five and scored four runs as the Guardians topped the Royals 17-3 in Kansas City. While Kwan doesn’t show much power, he has shown remarkable ability to make contact – and veteran patience at the plate. He has yet to strike out in 14 plate appearances and, in fact, has yet to swing and miss even once in three games. So far this season, he is 10-for-14 (a nice round .800 average), with two doubles, four runs scored and three walks. This comes after hitting at a .469 pace in 34 Spring Training plate appearances (15-for-32, with two walks and no strikeouts). As for that patience, in his first MLB game (April 7), Kwan grounded out to short in his first at bat and then (showing none of the expected rookie anxiousness) waited out a pair of walks before tapping a groundball single (on an 0-2 count) in his final at bat of the day.
Kwan was a fifth-round draft choice (2018) out of Oregon State University, where he hit .329 over three seasons (156 games). In three minor-league seasons (217 games), he stroked the ball at a .301 pace – including .328-12-44 in 77 games at Double- and Triple-A last season.
Hunter Greene, RHP, Reds
Photo: Minda Haas Kuhlmann, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Hunter Greene picked up his first MLB victory in his first MLB appearance (and start) on April 10. While he gave up three earned runs on four hits and two walks over five innings – he made quite an impression. The 22-year-old right-hander looks like a flamethrower at 6’5” and 230 pounds – and he pitches like one, as well. Greene threw 20 of his 92 pitches at 100 mph or more (a high of 101.6 mph). His fastball averaged 99.7 mph. Perhaps just as important, he effectively mixed in a slider and changeup and threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of 21 hitters. In his first three MLB innings, Greene faced just ten batters and fanned six.
Greene garnered plenty of attention as a high schooler, regularly hitting triple-digits with his fastball. (How unfair is that?). He was the number-two overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. In his first full minor-league season (Class A Dayton Dragons), he went 3-7, 4.48, but fanned 89 hitters in 68 1/3 innings (and he was just 18-years-old). He did give the Reds’ brass a scare – needing Tommy John Surgery in 2019. He came back in 2021 and went 10-8, 3.30 with 139 whiffs in 106 1/3 innings at Double- and Triple-A.
Seiya Suzuki, OF, Cubs
Seiya Suzuki was already a star when the Cubs signed him this March. At Age 27, he had played nine seasons in Japan and was a five-time All Star – carrying a .315 career average. Over his most recent three seasons in Japan, his stat lines were : .317-38-88; .300-25-75; and .335-28-87.
In his first three game with the Cubs, Suzuki hit .375 (3-for-8), with four walks (.538 on-base percentage). He has one home run, but – more important – six RBI in three contests.
Jeremy Pena, SS, Astros
Pena has some big cleats to fill – those of Carlos Correa. He doesn’t seem intimidated so far. After hitting .360-2-9 in eight Spring Training games, he has gone six-for-16 (.375), with two doubles and a home run in his first three games at SS for the Astros; while also showing solid defensive skills and a good arm.
Pena was signed in the 39th round of the 2015 draft out of the University of Maine. In three college seasons, he hit.305 (163 games) and in three minor-league campaigns, he averaged .291. Pena was injured in Spring Training in 2021 and, last season, played just 30 games at Triple-A – hitting .287 with ten home runs.
As the seventh inning of the Astros’ 13-6 win over the Angels opened on April 8, Cecilia and Geronimo Pena – parents of new Astros’ shortstop Jeremy Pena – were being interviewed on the AppleTV+ live broadcast of the game. At that moment, Pena, leading off the inning, hit the first pitch from the Angels’ Mike Mayers to deep left-center for his first MLB home run – with his parents elated reaction captured for the audience. Pena ended up three-for-five on the night.
Jhoan Duran, RHP, Twins
Duran made his MLB debut in a tight spot. In the fifth inning of the Twins’ April 8 opener against the Mariners (in Minnesota), Minnesota’s 24-year-old rookie right-hander (who boasts a triple-digit sinker) was called on to keep the Twins close (in a 2-1 game). In his first six pitches, he gave up a pair of singles (1B Ty France and LF Jesse Winker) and tossed a wild pitch, putting runners on first and third with no outs (in a 2-1 game). The Mariners were threatening to break it open. Over his next ten pitches, the rookie (apparently with nerves as cold as ice) put his sinker to work struck out RF Mitch Haniger, 3B Eugenio Suarez and DH Jarred Kalenic – earning a standing ovation as he walked off the mound. (Duran pitched another scoreless frame, adding a fourth strikeout and walking a batter.)
Duran’s performance came after a Spring Training in which the 24-year-old pitched in five games (seven innings) – giving up just one hit and one walk, while fanning ten (o.00 ERA). Duran was signed out the Dominican Republic by the Diamondbacks. In six minor-league seasons, he went 23-29, 3.99, with 80 starts in 82 games. Early returns out of the bullpen look good, particularly with the Twins having traded cloer Taylor Rogers. Could Duran er a closer-in-waiting?
Primary Resources: Baseball-reference.com
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