By Cho Mu-hyun
Korean slugger Choo Shin-soo, who endured his worst season with the Cleveland Indians last year, is showing form in recent exhibition games reminiscent of 2010, his best season for the Tribe.
“(During) the offseason, I came early in the ballpark to practice. I made sure I was healthy. My thumb is healthy, my elbow is healthy,” he said on Thursday after an exhibition match.
Though he missed the first preseason game on March 4, and seemed out of shape in early outings, he is steadily returning to his old self. He had hits in the past four games, and has seven so far in the preseason. He even faced the Texas Rangers’ new pitcher Yu Darvish on Wednesday (KST), whom he met at bat in the 2009 World Basic Classic, calling up memories of his glory days for fans here.
And the 29-year-old owes a lot to his club and fans.
After securing a $3.98 million deal with the Indians for 2011, he repaid the club by being arrested for drunken driving and with dismal performances following an injury-hit year. He was arrested for driving under the influence in May, which was labeled “greatly disappointing” by his club. After remaining in custody for 27 days and receiving a suspended sentence of one year for the offense, he broke his thumb a month later against the San Francisco Giants. It was to bother him all year.
He returned but only made brief appearances in August and September. “Choo! Choo!,” the usual cheers whenever the slugger came to bat for the Indians, were not heard anymore.
Unlike in 2010 when he had 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases and became a fan favorite, last year saw him playing a mere 85 games with a sub-par batting average of .259.
When it came time for salary renegotiations, Choo filed for arbitration on Jan 15. Baseball commentators believed it a wise choice, as they expected a figure either the same as the previous year, or slightly lower.
But instead, the Indians gave him an unexpected $1 million raise, hoping their top slugger can return to consistently stellar performances.
“I am healthy right now. Thumb and elbow, I am not worried about it. I start training early and swinging and everything feels great,” he said in an interview during team practice on the MLB’s official website last month. “My goal this year is not how many home runs, how many batting average, but (to have) my name in the line-up every day. (sic)
“Now I see with bigger eyes, wider eyes. I am not worried about what people say. I’m focused. I’m going to do my job. I was too worried about what everybody said before, but no more of that,” he added.
The regular season begins on April 5, and the Indians opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at home. If picked, it will be Choo’s first regular game in six months, and though the starting line-up is yet to be announced, fans will hope to see his name up front. They will also hope it stays there all year.