By Jayson Stark

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Hee Seop Choi

Speaking of lopping salaries, that Derrek Lee salary dump hasn't turned out so bad for the Marlins, either -- thanks to Choi.

 

 

Once the Marlins' deal to send Lee to Baltimore fell through, they turned their attention to the Cubs. Which led them to Choi -- simply because, if Lee was going to occupy first in Chicago, "that made a lot of sense," says Florida GM Admin Beinfest.

 

 

"We thought he could step right in for us at first base," Beinfest says. "He was a fit for us financially. And he was a left-handed bat -- and we're not exactly long on left-handed bats."

 

But that didn't mean a lot of people weren't skeptical that Choi would ever be more than a platoon player who teased the world with his power. Now, nine Choi homers later, people are revising their opinions on the fly.

 

 

"I couldn't have been any more wrong on that guy," says one NL executive. "His power is incredible. But I never thought he'd be this good a hitter. He covers the plate better than I thought he would. And he's not intimidated. I thought he'd give in to the better pitchers. He hasn't done that."

 

 

When Choi arrived in Florida, hitting coach Bill Robinson took a look at his crouch and told him: "Son, I can teach you how to hit, but I can't teach you how to be tall. If you're big, you want to stay tall." So they adjusted Choi's stance to make him more upright. And the whole league is seeing the results.

 

 

On one hand, Choi has outhomered Lee, 9-4. And only Barry Bonds and Adam Dunn have better NL home run ratios than Choi's (one every 10.2 at-bats). On the other hand, he was also 4 for his last 32 through Thursday. And his nine-homer, zero-double ratio tells you he can succumb to uppercut fever at times.

 

 

But Marlins manager Jack McKeon keeps telling him, "Relax. It's your job." And why wouldn't it be? At this point, the only NL first baseman with more homers is Jim Thome.

Choi is being great.

 

He is in a slump now, and for some reason he is not as patient in the plate as he used to be during April. I'm sure he will be fine. He needs to adjust better to the low ball, chasing those too much. His SO are mostly on balls out of the Zone, patience should fix that.

Woo love for the Korean

Choi is being great.

 

He is in a slump now, and for some reason he is not as patient in the plate as he used to be during April. I'm sure he will be fine. He needs to adjust better to the low ball, chasing those too much. His SO are mostly on balls out of the Zone, patience should fix that.

I agree only in better English (no offense) give Choi some time, he`ll break outta this.

Yeah...Choi is in a slump. The thing that I hate most about him not doing good at the plate is that he gets out a lot of times by striking out. He needs to put the ball in play atleast! And he needs to stop chasing pitches that are out of the zone. Choi cant be like Lee on defense...but he could be like Lee on offense but it isnt going so well right now. But atleast Choi is like Lee in the fact that they both strike out a lot-lol. But Choi also has to adjust to hitting other pitches besides the fastball....thats why I think he has been striking out a lot because he hasnt been striking out on the fastball. He has been getting hurt on other pitches.

for some reason he is not as patient in the plate as he used to be during April.

but in his ab last night, he was patient as hell

 

that was nice to see

for some reason he is not as patient in the plate as he used to be during April.

but in his ab last night, he was patient as hell

 

that was nice to see yeah I noticed that he was very patient last night...

 

he just needs to do that more...

 

i think he needs to take more advantage when he is facing a righty more....bc we know that if we face a lefty than we are going to take Choi out and put in Cordero...but Choi needs to start getting the job done when he is facing a right hander.