Choo-mongous
The Cincinnati Reds’ Choo Shin-soo hits against the Miami Marlins during their game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, Saturday. The newly-acquired leadoff hitter’s performace with a major league-leading .532 on-base-percentage (OBP) and a .382 batting average suggests this season will likely be his best ever. / AFP-Yonhap
Reds outfielder off to torrid start at new home
By Kim Tong-hyung
is good, just not
this
good. He obviously can’t keep up his torrid pace after 18 games ― hitting .382 with three homeruns, nine runs batted in (RBIs) and a major league-leading .532 on-base-percentage (OBP) ― because we are talking about the real-world game, not the PlayStation one.
Still, it’s hard not to expect big things going forward for the newly-acquired leadoff hitter of the Cincinnati Reds, who could be laying the foundations for a career year at the age of 30. His body of work in the past years essentially rules out the thought of him being a fluke.
While they had settled themselves among the playoff contenders in the National League in recent years, the Reds have had problems getting on base consistently. The team had by far the major league’s worst OBP from their leadoff hitters in 2012 with .254.
Choo, joining in the off-season after spending seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians of the American League, has been an over-compensation to that problem. While it’s hard to imagine him maintaining an OBP of .500-plus for the entire season, Choo has always shown an ability to get on base with ease.
In each of his three battling title-eligible campaigns ― 2009, 2010 and 2012 ― Choo has managed to finish within the majors’ top-20 hitters in OBP, thanks to his good plate discipline and willingness to take a walk rather than hack at pitches outside the zone.
It’s reasonable that Choo’s numbers could get even better with the Reds. While Choo batted at virtually every spot of the order in his days with the Indians, Reds manager Dusty Baker has always shown a stubbornness to stick with the players he put on the leadoff spot. The longer Choo stays at the top of the order, the more good pitches he will get to see.
Choo is also expected to experience a boost in power numbers at his new home at the Great American Ball Park, which unlike Cleveland’s homerun-swallowing Progressive Field, is generous to left-handed hitters due to its short dimensions down the lines.
If Choo continues to be one of the better leadoff hitters in the National League, the Reds could be truly dangerous at the plate, as its heart-of-the-order anchored by Joey Votto and Jay Bruce is already as scary as any other team.
While Choo has been struggling defensively this season, newly playing in center after spending most of his career as a right fielder, his raw ability inspires confidence that he will get better as the season progresses.
Choo is a true "five-tool’’ player ― a player who excels at hitting for average, hitting for power, base-running skills, throwing ability and fielding abilities. For his career, which already spans over 700 games, Choo has hit .291 with an on-base-percentage of over .384. That goes with 762 hits, 86 homeruns, 381 RBIs and 87 stolen bases, numbers that are enough to make the argument that Choo has already eclipsed Park Chan-ho as the best Korean major leaguer ever.