Injured Choi Ji-man (32, Pittsburgh) is preparing for a smooth comeback. He is expected to start a minor league rehabilitation game from early June at the earliest.
Choi Ji-man met with Star News ahead of the home game against Texas held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on the 23rd (Korean time) and said, “The condition has improved a lot.” I am doing my best to rehabilitate,” he said.
After being placed on the injured list (IL) due to a left Achilles tendon injury in mid-April, he played catch with a trainer on the field before the game. He started throwing the ball from a short distance and gradually widened the distance and digested the mid-distance long toss of about 40m without difficulty. Afterwards, he practiced walking in the outfield to check the condition of his Achilles.
Choi Ji-man said, “People’s future is unknown, but so far, the rehabilitation process is proceeding smoothly as the doctor expected and planned. The situation has improved a lot, so I will accompany the team on the Seattle expedition that begins on the 27th.”
If a player on the injured list is with the team, it is a positive sign that the situation has improved. The team can take it as a sign that they want to speed up his comeback as well as pay more attention to Choi Ji-man’s rehabilitation.
Infielder Brad Miller (34), an old colleague of Choi Ji-man, whom we met at the opponent team’s Texas clubhouse that day, also looked at Choi’s return positively. Miller said, “Choi Ji-man is a strong man with good mentality. As in the past, this Achilles tendon injury will return as if nothing happened. I believe in Choi.”
The ‘past’ that Miller refers to is the 2015 spring camp where he played in Seattle with Ji-man Choi. At that time, Choi Ji-man was injured in the first exhibition game of spring camp against San Diego. In the top of the ninth inning, in a two-out defense situation, the shortstop tried to jump and catch the ball thrown badly, but collided with the batter runner of the opposing team who was rushing to first base. Choi Ji-man, who fractured his right ankle bone in the aftermath of the collision, suffered a serious injury that also ruptured his right ankle ligament in the process of landing afterwards.
Miller recalled that time and said,토토사이트 “Many major league officials, including myself, judged that Choi Ji-man’s 2015 season was over,” and “but he overturned many expectations and returned in August.” That year, Choi Ji-man participated in 18 minor league Triple-A games and finished the season with a batting average of 0.298, 1 home run and 16 RBIs. And his healthy appearance became the basis for him to debut in the major leagues the following year after transferring to the Los Angeles Angels through the Major League Rule 5 draft in December of that year.
If Choi Ji-man’s condition does not worsen, he will digest rehabilitation in the minor leagues from the beginning of June. If this process goes smoothly, he will return to the team around mid-June.