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Choo Shin-soo of the Cleveland Indians is the best Asian hitter at least this season in U.S. Major League Baseball. In the home match against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, Choo drove in two runs, making one hit in four at bat and with one walk as No. 3 hitter. He compiled a batting average of 0.310. He has slammed 13 home runs with 59 RBIs in 89 games this season.
With that he stands out among Asian baseball players in the MLB. Currently, there are only 10 of them -- Choo, eight Japanese players and one Taiwanese. Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners), who has a 0.313 hitting average, did slightly better than Choo.
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Cleveland Indians' Choo Shin-soo runs the bases after hitting a solo home run off Armando Galarraga in the first inning in a baseball game in Cleveland on Friday. /AP
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In terms of OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging), the standard that comprehensively evaluates each hitter's performance, Choo recorded 0.954, a top score among MLB hitters. He ranks ninth among the MLB hitters who have had more than 300 times at bat. Choo is outperformed only by star players such as Manny Ramirez (LA Dodgers), Lance Berkman (Houston Astros), Milton Bradley (Texas Rangers), Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees), and Carlos Quentin (Chicago White Sox). Japanese hitters are behind Choo by more than 0.15.
Japanese people do not recognize Choo as the "best Asian hitter", however. Japanese baseball fans argue that Choo has failed to meet the required minimum number of times at bat to qualify. But others admit the Korean has the edge over their countryman.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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