Gee, Man. Choi?

(The author of this blog recognizes that the title of this post is terrible. He apologizes, and promises to never repeat it)

Due to a sudden rash of injuries to first basemen Rich Poythress (left knee) and Scott Savastano (torso strain) the Mariners have promoted top hitting prospect Ji-Man Choi from Double-A Jackson today. I expect to see him in the lineup tonight.

Choi is a 22-year-old left-handed swinger from South Korea. The Mariners signed him as a teenager, and he was originally a catcher. He had pretty serious back injury that has caused him to quit catching – this year he has been playing primarily first base, with occasional games at third base.

Choi’s best position is the batter’s box.

Opening the season at Advanced-A High Desert, Choi hit .337 with seven homers, 40 RBI, and a 1045 OPS in 48 games. He had a 21-game hitting streak in May, and was promoted to Jackson on June 3rd.

Jackson is a much more difficult hitting environment than High Desert, but that didn’t stop Choi. In 60 games for the Generals, Choi hit .270 with nine homers and 39 RBI. He had 32 walks and only 28 strikeouts in 196 at-bats, posting an 870 OPS. He got off to a slow start there – since the all-star break, Choi has hit .306 with a 920 OPS.

Choi and Taijuan Walker represented the Mariners organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in New York on July 14,

I’m going to look forward to any at-bats that Choi gets with the bases loaded, because he was doing a Stefen Romero impression at Jackson: he went 6-for-7 with two grand slams with the bases loaded.

Hopefully Choi will help the offense. The Rainiers were held to seven singles in a 5-2 loss to Colorado Springs on Sunday afternoon.

Tonight’s game is at 7:05 (Pacific), and you can hear it on South Sound Sports 850 AM, streaming right here, and available via the TuneIn app for iPads and smart phones. Tacoma starts RHP Hector Noesi (3-2, 6.75) against Colorado Springs RHP Collin McHugh (2-1, 4.15).

Links:

• We start with the Rainiers game story from The News Tribune.
• The Mariners edged the Rangers on Sunday and won the series in Texas, 2-1. Kyle Seager had the game-winning hit in the ninth.
• Dontrelle Willis had a good start, but the Salt Lake Bees lost to Las Vegas, 6-3.
• Sacramento remained in first place in the Pac-South by defeating Tucson, 5-4.
• Fresno picked up a 6-4 win over Reno. The Grizzlies are happy to have Francisco Peguero back in the lineup.
• Omaha won its third straight at Memphis and now leads the American-North by five games.
• Holy smokes, RedHawks. Oklahoma City won its 15th straight home game last night.
• New Orleans won a 16-inning marathon against Iowa, 4-3. Alex Burg had the game winning hit.
• Engel Beltre singled in the winning run as Round Rock beat Nashville in ten innings, 8-6.
• The new PCL ballpark in El Paso is on schedule for an April 11 opening.

It’s a Monday night home game, so that means legendary Pacific Northwest sports broadcaster Bob Robertson joins me on the air. Tune in at 7!