by JAMES S. KIM
It’s been a tough year for Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. After starting out red-hot for the first five weeks of the season, Choo joined several of his teammates struggling with the injury bug, strangling all the high hopes the team had for a playoff run this year as they’ve plummeted to the worst record in the major leagues.
Almost mercifully, Choo’s season is over, as he is scheduled to remove a bone spur from his left elbow within the next two weeks, the Rangers organization announced Monday. They had planned to shut him down in September, but they moved that up a week because Choo has come down with the flu.
The elbow surgery will take about two months to recover from, and the Rangers expect Choo to fully recover in time for next year’s spring training, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said.
The elbow had bothered Choo on long throws and hard throws, even though he has spent time in the lineup as a designated hitter for much of the season so far. He has some injury history with the elbow — in September 2007, he underwent Tommy John surgery, but he bounced back quickly the following season.
The hope will be that the team will get healthy, and with maybe a few adjustments, be a playoff contender next year. That’s the reason that Choo chose the Rangers over the New York Yankees and turned down a seven-year, $140 million contract.
However, his first year with the team has been quite a struggle, to say the least. His slash line of hitting .242 with 58 runs scored, 13 home runs, 40 RBIs, a .340 on-base percentage and a .374 slugging percentage were his lowest since he began playing regularly in 2008.
Rangers manager Ron Washington still had encouraging words for Choo, suggesting that in some ways he had a strong first season with the team.
“With all the adversity, he didn’t shut it down,” Washington said. “He kept fighting. I admire the way he went about his business through all the adversity. It was tough, but he didn’t complain.”
Choo’s career has had its ups and downs — he’d be the first to tell you that. But his hard work, determination and resilience have led him to become one of the top players in the game.
You can read more about Choo and his road to baseball stardom in our upcoming issue. Subscribe here, or email us at admin@charactermedia.com to buy an individual issue.
