The offseason was a wild one for Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi, going through the arbitration process and winning his case against the team, and returning home to South Korea and because of the pandemic, not being able to have a normal offseason workout routine.
“Obviously during the offseason, Korea was in shutdown mode,” Choi said through interpreter Steve Nam. “So no gym facility or any facility was open during that time, so it was kind of difficult to get in my routine. So I had to go back to a high school workout, where I had to go outside and train a lot of stuff, do a lot of things outside in the freezing cold. But luckily, the shutdown eased in the last month or so, so I was able to get back in the gym and lift weights.”
“It’s going to be difficult,” Choi admitted. “Because of COVID, I wasn’t able to do any yoga or pilates, [just] a lot of heavy lifting, like lifting tires, dragging tires along the streets.
“The splits will be a little difficult in the beginning, but hopefully a lot of our infield players will help me out in that aspect,” he said with a laugh. Because of health and safety protocols, Choi won’t be able to take yoga or pilates classes, and will have to rely on stretching to try and get limber.
“Our head COVID guy, Mike Sandoval, would not be happy if I go out and do a yoga class or pilates with others,” he said.
The other headline from 2020 involving the 29-year-old first baseman was his attempt to switch-hit, which he abandoned midway through the season, and appears to not be looking at continuing for 2021.
“It’s something I didn’t think about,” Choi said. “As a left-handed hitter, I’m confident to put on my best work, even facing a lefty. So I’m just going to concentrate on my left-handed hitting.”
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
