Choi Hui-sub On First Base

The major sports paper Sporting News reported that Choi Hui-sub (24, Chicago Cubs) took the starting position away from Erick Karros, brought in from the LA Dodgers.

Sporting News evaluated him highly in its ‛Cubs Team Report“ on the Internet homepage (www.sportingnews.com) saying, “Karros is suffering from back injuries and cold, so Choi Hui-sub gained the advantage. Choi Hui-sub has good contact ability at bat and excellent defense.”

Sporting News also pointed out, “We worried that because he is a lefty, he might be weak against a lefty pitcher, but there seems to be nothing to worry about,” and “since he is very good at attacking outside balls, the question is how he will deal with inside balls.”

Even without the evaluation of Sporting News, the team atmosphere of the Cubs is leaning towards Choi Hui-sub. Cubs Manager Dusty Baker said before the exhibition games, “I will use the right-hander Karros against lefty pitchers, and the lefty Choi Hui-sub for right-handed pitchers,” but the 36-years-old Karros could not play in the exhibition games due to frequent past injuries. However, Choi Hui-sub is showing very stable play with a 0.313 hitting average (5 hits in 16 at-bats), 2 RBIs, and 2 runs in 8 exhibition games including one hit in 2 at-bats since the 4th inning of the Chicago White Sox game on Sunday.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com