Pittsburgh, which was unable to spend a lot of money in the offseason while worrying about a decrease in offensive power, made up for it by adding two veterans to the first base position this season. They recruited Choi Ji-man (32) through a trade with Tampa Bay, and signed a one-year contract with switch hitter Carlos Santana (37) for $6.75 million, increasing the option.

Choi Ji-man is a left-handed hitter and has the advantage of attacking right-handers, and Santana is a switch hitter, but is expected to start when opponents start with lefties. If one of the two players plays as first base, one player can also draw a picture of playing as the designated hitter.

If so, who will be the lead? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, an influential local media, predicted on the 12th (Korean time) that “Choi Ji-man will have more defensive time.”

At the same time, the media selected Choi Ji-man as one of the three players who are essential and worth watching in Pittsburgh this season. The team’s first baseman offense needs to be strengthened, and only Choi, who is likely to get more playing time, should be the spearhead. Although the second half of last year was not good, he praised him, saying that considering his career so far, he deserves high expectations. 스포츠토토

The ‘Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’ said, ‘Anyway, the Pirates need more offensive support at this point (first base). Perhaps it will be more difficult to receive less,” he expressed his expectations to the recruits.

Then, ‘Choi Ji-man had a poor finish with a batting average of 0.188 in his last 60 games in 2022, and he admitted in his first Zoom interview after the transfer that he would need elbow surgery during the offseason,’ but ‘no one around Pittsburgh knows that elbow. We do not expect the problem to persist. After setting a career-high OPS of 0.822 at Tampa Bay in 2019, Choi Ji-man recorded an OPS of 0.741 over the past three years. He hoped for only Choi’s rebound, saying that in 2019, he recorded a career-high 19 home runs and an on-base percentage of 0.363.

On the other hand, he bluntly said, “Santana has a high score, but it is difficult to expect that performance considering his age and recent performance.” Santana earned his first All-Star selection honor in 2019 while with Cleveland, hitting 34 home runs and 93 RBIs in 158 games. However, his batting average was 0.199 in 2020, 0.214 in 2021, and 0.202 in 2022.