Kia Tigers' slugger Choi voted KBO player of month

Kia Tigers’ Choi Hyung-woo hits a solo home run in third inning of his team’s Korea Baseball Organization game against the NC Dinos at Masan Baseball Stadium in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, May 30. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Kia Tigers outfielder Choi Hyung-woo has been voted May’s best player.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Friday Choi won the monthly MVP title in a landslide after earning 22 votes from 28 KBO press corps members. Lim Chan-kyu of the LG Twins was runner-up with four votes while Dustin Nippert of the Doosan Bears and Koo Ja-wook of the Samsung Lions received one each.

The KBO said Choi had received the second-highest number of votes ever in the award, following former Nexen Heroes’ first baseman Park Byung-ho, who received 25 votes to win the September 2015 title.

“Thank you for giving me such an honorable award,” Choi, 33, said. “I feel proud for contributing to my team’s upturn in the standings. I will not be satisfied with the present and will keep working hard to display a better performance.”

Choi last month hit the most home runs -- nine -- recording the highest on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.115 and the second-highest on-base percentage (.466) and slugging percentage (.469) in the league. He also became the 10th player to hit more than 10 home runs for 10 consecutive seasons in the league’s history and the 20th player to hit 300 doubles, on May 30.

This is Choi’s fifth monthly MVP award. He received it when he played for the Samsung Lions in August 2011, July 2012, July 2013 and September 2016.

After playing 11 seasons, Choi signed a four-year deal worth 10 billion won with the Tigers. He has proved why he is worthy of being the second highest-paid player in the league from his first season with the Gwangju-based team, which currently is top the league’s standings with 35 wins and 18 losses, as of Friday.

Choi has placed his name at the top of numerous batting rankings this season.

He has recorded the sixth-highest batting average of .346 with 14 home runs, three fewer than league leader Choi Jeong of the SK Wyverns, and 40 RBIS, second most following 41 by the Lions’ Koo.