The Confusing Case of Ji-Man Choi: A Hitter Stuck in a Slugger’s Body

First base is a fairly simple position: you either field the ball and run/flip to first or you stand at first and await the catch.
Oh, and you hit. But someone forgot to tell the Yankees’ first basemen about that part this season.
Right now, the “3" spot could be manned by a handful of players: Chase Headley, the Yankees’ 3B earlier this year; Todd Frazier, the new import who also played 3B this season, but for the White Sox; Garrett Cooper, a recent minor-league callup; Tyler Austin, another MiLB call-up.
But one Yankee it probably won’t be this season: Ji-Man Choi, who the Yankees outrighted to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre earlier today.
The Yankees got the 26-year-old South Korean after the Angels granted him free agency in mid-January, which he used to sign with the Yankees four days later. Choi had split 2016 almost evenly between AAA Salt Lake and Anaheim (53 and 54, respectively).
In AAA: .346/.434/.527, 31 BB, 34 SO, 5 HR.
In MLB: .170/.271/.339, 16 BB, 27 SO, 5 HR.
Needless to say, not the best MLB debut with the Angels, although 54 games gives a player requisite time to play consistently with the best-of-the-best and learn in the process (it’s not like the Angels had a playoff shot, finishing with 88 losses, so why not give the rookie more time?).
But this year, in 56 AAA games, he rebounded back closer to his previous year’s AAA stat line: .289/.371/.505, 25 BB, 58 SO, 8 HR.
(Notice the jump in both SO and HR — will be important in a minute.)
After the perennial bust Chris Carter did his thing and subsequently got released, Ji-Man Choi got his week, and it’s fair to say he shined compared to the consistent struggles he had in the Angels lineup.
In six games: 4-for-15, 2 BB, 4 SO and 2 HR. Not to mention he had some really great defensive plays. But Joe Girardi opted for Garrett Cooper over Choi after that July week, and now Choi is no longer on the Yankees.
What gives, especially when no first-basemen-by-trade seems to be doing much better than Choi for the Yankees?
Well, it turns out that Choi is a hitter stuck in a sluggers body.
When I look at Choi’s swing, I see a lot of similarities to Ichiro Suzuki’s — the bat dropping a few degrees upon swing initiation, the plane in turn flattening out, a slight push forward a few inches as opposed to staying back and turning on it.
What this means is his contact is going to be superb, but power totals aren’t going to be there. Not a problem, except for the fact that Choi is, umm, 6'1", 230 lbs, and slow as molasses.
Of the 839 opportunities he’s had to be on base at all professional levels (calculated by using the formula OBOpp = (H-HR)+ BB (IBB included)+ HBP), he’s only attempted to steal a base 42 times. And in 20 of those attempts, he was picked off.
It seems that today that if you can’t slug, you have to hit for average, field, recognize pitches, AND run at an above-average pace. Choi seems to be able to hit for average this year, field better than he has in the past but still not anything special, recognize pitches fairly well, but can’t run a lick.
Remember the jump in SO this year? This isn’t so much about his pitch recognition. I think this is the resurgence of Choi trying to brand himself as a slugger, realizing that few teams want him as a hitter for average with his downside in running and fielding.
The first go-round, while in the Mariners system, he did it through PEDs and was caught. This time, he actually seems to be trying to gain strength.
But he’s also swinging slightly harder and trying to get balls elevated. His ground ball + line drive rate (61.4%) has dropped in AAA this year from his AAA play last year (66.7%). His fly ball rate of 38.6 percent is the highest it’s been since his PED-plagued 2014 season.
So it seems Choi is accepting his fate and trying to slowly tick up his game power. In turn, if he keeps it up, I think Choi could well suit a team with a small park (Rockies, Tigers, Brewers, Red Sox), if ever one needs a 1B backup and a bat that can hit for average yet flip the switch just enough to power it out of their home park. In fact, the Red Sox would be in the market for buying someone like Choi now, had their record not put them in prime position to make a playoff run, as Moreland’s bat has taken vacation and Holt isn’t a plus versus Choi.
All this to say, the Yankees may have given him the thumbs down despite their situation, but I’m not worried for Choi. He’s still 26, has time to build strength and market himself for the average ball club, and he’s a switch hitter, which never gets old. I don’t think Choi is going away any time soon.
Chris Carter, on the other hand…
