‘Silence again’ Choi Ji-man, 1 hit in 19 at-bats… PIT hitting coach “No worries” Why?
Choi Ji-man (32), who moved to Pittsburgh this season, is suffering from poor batting at the beginning of the season. However, he responded that neither he nor the team’s hitting coach were too concerned.
On the 10th (Korean time), in a home game against the Chicago White Sox held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Choi Ji-man started as a first baseman, batting 5 times, and went silent with no hits and 1 strikeout in 3 at-bats. He recently went hitless in three consecutive games, dropping his season batting average to 0.053 (1 hit in 19 at-bats).
However, the party and the Pittsburgh coaching staff did not care much.
Andy Haynes (46), a Pittsburgh hitting coach who met with Star News ahead of the game, said, “Choi Ji-man is a veteran who survived fierce competition in the major leagues.” You don’t have to worry about work, and it will get better soon. It will definitely happen.”
Choi Ji-man, the party involved, had the same idea. In an interview with Star News, he analyzed, “For the first time since 2019, we played the opening game at an outdoor baseball field rather than a dome.
Choi Ji-man, who was traded from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay in the middle of the 2018 season, used the Dome, an indoor baseball stadium, as his home stadium until last year. Therefore, I am not used to playing in areas where the daytime temperature is as low as 10 degrees Celsius even in April, such as Pittsburgh.
Choi Ji-man’s inconsistent playing time is also cited as the cause of the sluggish performance.
The Pittsburgh Times, a local journalist in Pittsburgh, recently said, “Last winter, Pittsburgh strengthened their batting line by recruiting not only Choi Ji-man, but also veteran first baseman Carlos Santana (37) and outfielder Andrew McCutchen (37).” As the pain in his right elbow started, he spent more time playing as a designated hitter than in the outfield, and Choi Man-man is taking away his playing time. Therefore, it is an environment where he has no choice but to struggle at bat compared to players who play every day.” . In fact, Choi Ji-man got a chance to start in only 5 of the team’s 9 games this season.
The still fast batted ball speed also eases the worry about sluggishness. Choi Ji-man sent an 85-mile slider (approximately 137 km) deep into the outfield on the 4th pitch of opposing starting pitcher Michael Kopek (27) in his second at-bat of the game. Although he was caught by center fielder, the speed of this batted ball was a whopping 101 miles (about 163 km). Even in the game where he started the day before, Choi Ji-man made a strong batting ball of 98 miles (about 158 km) that was sucked into the second baseman’s glove.
His strong batting speed is proof that he is well aligned with the opponent pitcher’s ball at the center of the bat. This means that it has nothing to do with hitting skills such as bat speed or balance, which is why Choi Ji-man and his hitting coach are not too concerned about his sluggish performance.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh won the game 1-0. Pittsburgh’s Bae Ji-hwan (24) played as a great defense for second base in the top of the 7th inning and struck out at bat in the bottom of the 8th inning. His season performance was a batting average of 0.250 (7 hits in 28 at-bats), 1 home run and 3 RBIs in 8 games. 메이저놀이터