“A player who solves both the first baseman and on-base rate”
American media ‘Pittsburgh Baseball Now’ predicted on the 2nd (Korean time) the role of only Choi this season. Choi Ji-man was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season last year.
Choi Ji-man, who first stepped on the major league stage with the Los Angeles Angels, played for the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay before returning to Pittsburgh this season. Choi Ji-man played in 486 games in total, recording 350 hits in 1463 at-bats, 61 homers, 225 RBIs, 240 walks, a batting average of 0.239, an on-base percentage of 0.345, and a slugging percentage of 0.429.
Although his career batting average is down, he is a player with an advantage in on-base percentage. ‘Pittsburgh Baseball Now’ said, “One of the players Pittsburgh wanted to acquire during the offseason was a starting first baseman. It would also improve Pittsburgh’s on-base rate.” said. Last season, Pittsburgh ranked 28th out of 30 teams with a .291 on-base percentage. Choi Ji-man recorded an on-base percentage of 0.341 last season. 스포츠토토
Last season, Choi Ji-man recorded 83 hits in 356 at-bats, 11 home runs and 52 RBIs with a batting average of 0.233. ‘Pittsburgh Baseball Now’ said, “Last season, Choi Ji-man had a lot of ups and downs at bat. However, he recorded an OPS+ of 114. It was 14% higher than the first baseman average.” came out and recorded 3 home runs and 10 walks.
The media also paid attention to Choi Ji-man’s defense. Pittsburgh said they believe Choi Ji-man will play a solid defense. Choi Ji-man committed 16 errors in 348 games as a first baseman in the major leagues. He is posting a 0.994 fielding percentage. He added, “Lefty hitter Choi Ji-man may platoon with right-handed hitter Connor Cho, but he will likely be Pittsburgh’s starting first baseman this season.”
Meanwhile, on the 31st of last month, the US media ‘ESPN’ selected Choi Ji-man as a potential trade candidate. Choi Ji-man can obtain free agent (FA) status after this season. It remains to be seen if Pittsburgh will trade Choi Ji-man this summer to bring in new resources.