If a two-time All-Star Major League Baseball player told you that sometimes he questions whether he belongs in this game, would you believe him?
So often professional athletes seem like superheroes with their exceptional talents and larger-than-life statures. But Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan is here to remind everyone, especially kids who look up to him, that it’s normal to battle with confidence.
MLB is launching an original content series called No Easy Outs on MLB YouTube that details how some of the game’s biggest stars have overcome challenges on their way to The Show. The conversations are designed to relate to younger audiences (ages 7-12), informing them about the power of resilience and demonstrating how everyone has experienced difficulties that they’ve had to overcome. Kwan stars in the pilot episode that’s streaming on YouTube.
The three-time Gold Glover has turned into one of the best leadoff hitters in the big leagues. Kwan is respected among his peers and he even had to pinch himself when he was taking batting practice alongside a slugger like AL MVP Aaron Judge at the 2024 All-Star Game. To this day, Kwan has to continue to remind himself he’s good enough to compete at this level with the help of meditation and journaling.
“So often we have these thoughts in our head that seem so much bigger and then when you conceptualize them on a paper, they feel so small,” Kwan details in the episode. “And they literally are so small. They take up two lines of a small journal. We can really build up things in our head and getting them on paper really helps.”
Kwan reflects on his favorite childhood baseball memories, reveals how he learned to cope with racism on and off the field, dives deep into the insecurities that followed him from childhood to adulthood and gives tips for how kids can learn to establish self-confidence.
The series utilizes a mix of animation, sit-down interviews, found footage and dynamic graphics to tell unique stories of each player. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen will headline the second installment of the series on Aug. 30. Subscribe to MLB’s YouTube page to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
