ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay first baseman Ji-Man Choi got off to a good start this season, but a nagging elbow injury sent him to the sidelines for nearly two weeks. And he's really struggled to get his groove back since returning to the team last Sunday.
After hitting .357 in April with two homers and 10 RBIs — many in clutch situations — Choi is 0-for-15 since returning to the lineup, with eight strikeouts.
"It's nothing new to me, and I'm not in my best condition,'' Choi said through interpreter Daniel Park. "But I'm trying to do my best to get back to where I was before. My condition is always up and down, so my focus right now is to get back to my best condition.''
Choi had loose bodies in his elbow that was causing pain. Rest was prescribed, and rehab.
"I was surprised that I was injured in a new area, because I have never hurt my elbow before,'' Choi said. "I don't know how it happened. It just started to hurt.''
This is the first time the media has been able to talk to the Korean-born Choi this season because it was Park's first day on the job as a translator for the Rays.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash isn't too worried about Choi's slow start since returning from injury. It just might take a little time to get him rolling again, he said.
“Timing is everything when you’re hitting, and I think most hitters would agree with that,” Cash said. “When you alter the timing, you miss some at-bats or miss some reps, it can have an effect.''
Fellow Korean Hyun Jin Ryu is pitching for Toronto on Saturday night, so the pair haven't had a chance to catch up yet, but he said they will. Ryu is a left-hander, so it's doubtful that Choi will be in the lineup against him on Saturday.
Repping 'Feyereisen Flooring' shirts
Tampa Bay releiver J.P. Feyereisen is a proud Wisconsin native and a loving and loyal family man. His family owns a flooring business back in River Falls, Wis., so Feyereisen bought a bunch of "Feyereisen Flooring'' shirts to hand out to his teammates.
This group, which is all so close, loved the gesture and several players wore the shirts during pregame festivities. Manuel Margot and Ryan Yarbrough did media interviews while rocking the blue shirts and more than a dozen players warmed up on the field in the shirts, including Keven Kiermaier and many of the other bullpen guys.
Manuel Margot
Manuel Margot repping his Feyereisen Flooring t-shirt.
T-shirts
J.P. Feyereisen ordered several t-shirts for his teammates.
Ryan Yarbrough
Tampa Bay pitcher Ryan Yarbrough did his pregame media interviews in a Feyereisen Flooring t-shirt.
Kevin Kiermaier
Kevin Kiermaier took batting practice and did his full pregame workout in a Feyereisen Flooring t-shirt.
Kittredge bounces back nicely
After getting roughed a couple of times on the end of the West Coast trip, blowing two saves in the final three losses, closer Andrew Kittredge had a great outing on Friday.
He came in to a tough situation with a run already in and two men still on in the eighth inning, but he got out of a huge jam with just seven pitches, striking out Bo Bichette on five pitches and then getting All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground into a double play.
He left with the score tied 2-2, but the Rays scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to win 5-2. Kittredge (3-0) got the win, and Jason Adam got his first save of the year.
“There’s nobody else you’d rather have on the mound than him [in that situation),'' Rays catcher Mike Zunino said. "There's no lack of confidence when Kitt is on the mound. He's such a key part of our bullpen, and we talked about what we wanted to do with Bichette and Vlad, and he executed perfectly.''
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