Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Choi Ji-man revealed his thoughts on the major league’s ‘unicorn’.
Choi Ji-man played against Shohei Ohtani, a star player who doubled as a pitcher for the Angels, in the 2023 Major League Baseball match against the Los Angeles Angels held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, USA on the 22nd and 24th (Korean time). He hit a home run against pitcher Ohtani in the game on the 22nd, and on the 23rd and 24th he was removed from the lineup and watched Ohtani’s hit as a batter in the dugout.카지노
In the game on the 22nd, Ohtani hit 4 home runs and gave up 5 runs in 6⅓ innings, but became the winning pitcher and won his 8th win of the season. Choi Ji-man scored his 5th home run of the season against Ohtani after a run in the top of the 4th inning. Ohtani’s four home runs in a game were the first since his major league debut.
Ohtani went 0-for-4 on the 23rd, but on the 24th, after one shot in the bottom of the first inning, which was trailing 0-1, Ohtani hit a solo shot against starter Mitch Keller in the middle of the month. It was a bullet clothesline hit with a launch angle of 19 degrees and a flight time of 3.99 seconds. Ohtani broke the major league home run lead with his 36th home run of his individual season.
Ohtani, who was the first in the major leagues to achieve regulation innings and regulation at bats, is highly likely to become the league MVP again this year, with 100 innings, 100 strikeouts, 100 hits, and 100 RBIs in two years after receiving the American League unanimous MVP in 2021. If he becomes a free agent after the season, it is estimated that the total amount will exceed 500 million dollars.
The Japanese media ‘Full Count’, which met Choi Ji-man in Anaheim on the 24th, introduced Choi Ji-man as “a left-handed slugger with a total of 66 home runs this year for the 8th year in the major leagues.
Choi Ji-man said, “(Ohtani) is a player who makes everyone jealous because he is active in pitching. He is unique and has a lot to learn from him. There are things I want to learn from him myself. Especially, I want to learn power. It’s amazing that an Asian player is doing that in the major leagues, and I’m really jealous. I want to become a player like that.”
He continued, “The ball is really fast in the major leagues. I usually have a hitting method like an Asian player. I always try to swing with 70% power to deal with fast balls. I don’t do full swings. But Ohtani does full swings, so I can show that kind of power. That’s the difference.”