Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
Shin-Soo Choo realizes that one base hit does not automatically get a MLB player out of a hitting slump, but it doesn’t hurt.
Choo has been struggling for the Cincinnati Reds and entered Wednesday game with only five hits in his last 33 at-bats, but he delivered the walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th to give the Reds a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Reds manager Dusty Baker had been telling Choo to be patient during his slump and the base hits would come. He had two singles for the night. Playing a key role in a team’s win will also get a hitter’s confidence going in the right direction. That’s certainly what Choo and the Giants are hoping for right now.
What Choo especially liked about his game-winning hit was it came against lefthander Javier Lopez. Choo has been struggling against left-handers all season and it doesn’t hurt one’s confidence to get a game-winning hit off a lefty.
It’s wise for managers like Baker not to over-coach a player like Choo in this case when he’s struggling. To Baker’s credit, he had noticed Choo was swinging too hard and by correcting his mechanics, the base hits would eventually come.
It also was a solid win for the Reds, who had come back to town limping from a 2-6 road trip. They are four games back from the lead in the NL Central on Wednesday. The All-Star break isn’t quite here yet but the Reds don’t want to fall too far back now that the season has hit July.
