The biggest feature of the Major League leaderboard at the beginning of this season is that the team with the lowest team salary is doing well on the leaderboard. Conversely, big-market teams that spend more than $200 million on team salaries alone are struggling with their egos.
In the American League, Tampa Bay, which ranks 28th in team annual salary (approximately $74 million), is running first overall. The next team is Baltimore, which ranks 29th in team annual salary (approximately $65 million). Pittsburgh also ranks 27th in team annual salary (approximately $75.6 million) in the National League. Pittsburgh is 20-8 (.714) as of the 30th (Korean time), ranking first in the National League and second overall in the Major League.
Tampa Bay has been consistently producing good results with low salaries in recent years. It is a team of ‘efficiency A’ recognized by self and others. Baltimore, which is gradually graduating from Rebuilding, recorded a score of .512 or more last year. It is a team with its own basics. Conversely, Pittsburgh was a last-place team with 101 losses in 2021 and 100 losses in 2022. This is why Pittsburgh’s favorable performance is relatively more noticeable.
It is also Pittsburgh, where many good prospects are coming out through rebuilding. Ahead of this season, the team scratched the itch by recruiting veteran players such as Choi Ji-man, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, and Rich Hill to lead young players one after another. However, no one expected such a result. A team that is said to be successful even with a 50% win rate, swept 20 wins in the first 28 games of the season.
Pittsburgh’s potential this season is centered on a stronger-than-expected starting lineup, bullpen, and foot ball that drives opponents crazy. But in the end, baseball is a game that must be played to win. While the composition of the batting line is better than last year, Chinese-American Conor Cho (31) is the player who pushes the storm from behind.
Through the 30th, Joe is making an outstanding performance with a batting average of 0.289, 4 home runs, 11 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.972 in 23 games of the season. Recently, his weight in the team has been increasing, such as being placed in the 4th position of the team. But he was never a superstar. After all, he was a player who had more pain than glory.
Cho, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2014, has been in the minor leagues for a long time. He was traded to Atlanta in 2017 and traded back to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018. In 2019, he changed into a San Francisco uniform. He made his major league debut in a San Francisco uniform in 2019, but was released immediately after playing in eight games. Afterwards, he re-signed with the Dodgers, but in 2020, he did not play a single major league game.
Joe, who signed a minor league contract with Colorado in 2021, played as a utility player for two years and played a total of 174 games. However, he had to find a new team again after leaving mediocre results with a batting average of 0.252 and an OPS of 0.744. It was Pittsburgh, his first professional team, that reached out to him. He had a minor league contract.먹튀검증
Actually, he didn’t expect much. When there was something wrong with the team, he thought of him as a player who would fill the void. However, he got a chance by playing a big role in the demonstration game, and he made good use of the limited opportunity at the beginning of the season and now has become a key hitter for the team. His defensive positions are also varied. He has high utility value as a utility player.
He strikes out a lot, but he also picks out walks fairly well, and he’s making a lot of good bats. In fact, Joe’s hard hit rate (balls hitting 95 miles per hour or more) this year is in the top 10% of the league, and the line drive hit rate is also high. If the current contact continues, it can be expected that this level of offensive production will continue in the future. If he’s doing well now, he might not have to worry about where he’ll play next year at least.