Photo Courtesy of Milwaukee Brewers
Non Roster invite 1st Baseman Ji-Man Choi spring training as a Milwaukee Brewer at Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix AZ. Scott Paulus/Brewers
For most veteran players spring training games are a time to work back into shape, experiment with minor mechanical tweaks and prepare for a long season. For the players whose assignments are less certain, however, there is a bit more urgency and a need to balance pacing themselves for the year ahead with the desire to put on a show right now and win a spot on a roster.
He’s still a long way away from winning a major league job with the Brewers, but Ji-Man Choi did not miss any opportunities this weekend to demonstrate some of the things he’s capable of. Choi appeared in games in each of the first three days of Cactus League play and collected a hit in all of them, including a double against the Angels on Saturday and a home run against the Diamondbacks on Sunday. He also legged out an infield single in the latter game, prompting a discussion on the Brewers’ webcast about his surprising speed.
Choi likely needs to continue his hot start and get some help to open the season with the Brewers. Even if Milwaukee opts to go with a five-man bench, which they’ve indicated they likely will not, Choi’s only hope to make the roster would be beating out Jesus Aguilar for a job. If the Brewers opt to carry 13 pitchers and don’t make a trade to clear the outfield logjam then there may not be room for either Choi or Aguilar.
For now all Choi can do is work to force the Brewers to make a tough decision. The end result has been mixed for players in his position in recent years.
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A year ago at this time Jesus Aguilar forced his way into the conversation with a huge spring, batting .452 and tying for the Cactus League lead with seven home runs in 26 games. The Brewers took Aguilar along back to Milwaukee but the transition to part-time duty was a struggle for him at first, as he was hitting just .200 with a .256 on-base percentage and .250 slugging on May 1. He stuck on the big league roster and hit .276/.343/.548 in his final 109 games, however, establishing himself as someone whose bat can play in the majors.
In 2016 the Brewers took a long look at utility infielder Yadiel Rivera, who homered on back-to-back days early in camp to make a solid opening statement. Eight of Rivera’s 14 hits that spring went for extra bases and he led the team with eleven runs scored. Rivera played his way onto the Opening Day roster but he also struggled early and did not get the same level of patience Aguilar received: the Brewers returned him to the minors when he was hitting .196/.213/.261 on May 9 and he played in just 18 more MLB games over the next season and a half before leaving the organization this winter.
Slugging first baseman Matt Clark had earned his way up to the big leagues with a big partial season for AAA Nashville in 2014 and carried that hot bat into spring training in 2015, where he batted .341 and slugged .568 in 22 Cactus League games. Like Rivera, he also set the tone for a big spring with homers on back-to-back days early in camp. Clark outperformed fellow roster hopeful Luis Jimenez in camp but the Brewers opted to keep the latter player anyway, albeit briefly. Clark spent the 2015 season with Colorado Springs and had a good year there, but has yet to make his way back to the majors.
Choi, of course, still needs to stay hot for a while to match the spring performances of any of the players listed above. If he does then he has a shot to become the first Korean-born position player in Brewers franchise history, but recent comparables suggest that the ability to turn a hot spring into a solid MLB season is far from a given.
