Indians prospect gets back in swing
Shin-Soo Choo attends winter program as he recovers from surgery
Left-hander Shin-Soo Choo once pitched five games in seven days during a tournament for Busan High School in his native South Korea — totaling a whopping 44 innings.
That's quite a strain on a teenage arm that's still developing. Not to mention a daunting load that no one would allow a veteran major-league pitcher to consider.
''Korea don't care about players' bodies,'' said Choo, who signed with the Seattle Mariners for $1.35 million shortly after being named the Most Valuable Player and best pitcher in the 2000 World Junior Championship held in Edmonton, Alberta. ''It's just, make the championship.''
That kind of overload might have been the beginning of what went wrong with the converted outfielder's left elbow, as Choo opted to have Tommy John (ligament replacement) surgery last fall.
As one of a handful of top Tribe minor-league prospects attending the Indians Winter Development Program, Choo, 25, spent Thursday morning working out with the group at Case Western Reserve University's Veale Center.
Four months after having surgery in September, Choo just started swinging a bat lightly Wednesday, with the goal of graduating to soft-toss next week if all continues to go well.
His timeline has him getting ready to go just before Spring Training starts.
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