Choo Shin-soo continues 7-game extra-base hit spree

To a baseball player, it is better if the order of batting is fixed. Choo Shin-soo of the Texas Rangers had handed over the "official" table-setter position of his team for this season. The team’s new manager Jeffery Banister singled out centerfielder Leonys Martin, who is good at stealing, for the position during the spring training session, because he judged Choo lost capacity in stealing.

On the switching of batting order, Choo has said, “It doesn’t matter which batting order we use. What is important is for our team to win.” Considering his past records, however, he is way more qualified for the key lineup of hitters in his team. In fact, he has played in more games (345 games) as cleanup hitter than any other hitter positions, followed by in games (294 games) as third hitter. He has a batting average of 0.286 and an on-base percentage of 0.396 as cleanup hitter, and a batting average of 0.274 and an on-base percentage of 0.368 as third hitter.

Due to Martin’s wrist injury, Choo reassumed the cleanup hitter position from Monday. In the four games in which he played as cleanup hitter, including the game against Tampa Bay on Thursday, he has had 4 hits and 3 runs from 18 times at bat, displaying apparent recovery of batting performance. All hits he has had are extra-base hits (one homer, three doubles). Choo hit a double on Thursday, continuing his extra-base hit spree in seven consecutive games.

Notably, as Choo has played the cleanup hitter, his team is enjoying a four-game winning streak. On Thursday, Texas beat Tampa Bay 5-4. Attention is focusing on the team, as manager Banister plans to redeploy Martin on Friday.

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