Ji-man Choi is one of those players that you know of even if he isn’t on a team that you follow. Since day one the Korean product has produced average baseball, which has allowed him to stay afloat in the league by coming off the bench or being a minor league presence.
Currently, Choi resides with the Mets and is with their Triple-AAA affiliate in Syracuse, where he is hitting at the Mendoza line through three games.
When the Mets signed Choi I felt like I was the only person to immediately think back to his Yankee days – which literally could be described as days due to him not even playing a week’s worth of games in the Majors.
Choi signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees in 2017, receiving a non-roster invitation to spring training. At the end of spring training he was assigned to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple–A International League.
Through 87 AAA games with the RailRiders, Choi batted a .288 with a .911 OPS, while notching 69 RBIs and 15 homers.
Choi made his Pinstriped debut on July 5th, 2017, against the Blue Jays, going 1-for-4 in the Bronx. His only hit that day would be a massive 457-foot two-run homer.
In the 6 games that Choi played saw the Yankees split even at 3-3. His 4 hits in 15 at-bats would tune his batting average to .267. Choi slammed 2 home runs in his 4 hits, giving him a 50% home run / hit percentage.
The Yankees DFA’d Choi on July 19th, 2017, marking the end to his big league stay in the Bronx.