Tampa Bay’s Choi Ji-man had three homers in the regular season. However, two of them were against one of the best pitchers in the MLB. Also, Choi would likely meet the pitcher in the postseason.
Tampa Bay Rays will go against New York Yankees in the American League Division Series that would start this week. Game 1 will be at the Tropicana Field in Florida. Starting for the Yankees is Gerrit Cole.
In the regular season, Gerrit Cole had a record of 7-3 with an ERA of 2.84. Also, he struck out 94 batters in 73 innings. Thus, people who bet on baseball named him one of the dominant starting pitchers in the MLB today.
Tampa Bay’s Choi Ji-man
Choi performed well against Cole. He is 8 for 12 with three home runs and three doubles in his MLB career against the right-hander. Also, it included two homers in 2020 alone. Cole gave up 14 long balls in 2020, which placed him in second place in the American League. It was due to attacking the upper part of the strike zone with fastballs.
However, sports betting experts are dumbfounded about how Cole is struggling against Choi. The latter is a middle hitter with a career slash line of .245/.345/.451. It would be exciting to see how the two will battle in the playoffs.
Choi missed the last two weeks of the regular season due to a hamstring injury. He returned in active duty in time for the Wild Card Series against Toronto. Tampa Bay swept the series with Choi coming off the bench. In two games, he went zero for three with a single strikeout.
However, his history with Cole might make the Rays’ coaching staff put him as one of the starters in Game 1. Also, Choi is the only South Korean left in the MLB playoffs after Tampa Bay ousted Toronto in the previous round.
