Choo hates admitting the culprit for his sore shoulder. What could it be?
The bonus Tuesday morning for Shin-Soo Choo on his unexpected trip home, before having a needle jammed in his left shoulder, was that he could surprise his three kids when they woke up.
The little Choos went crazy, even if it was for only a few fleeting moments before their dad received a cortisone injection in his bothersome AC joint and hopped on a plane back to the Surprise Recreation Campus.
Choo was in the clubhouse Wednesday and said that he was ready to play, though he was giving the shot 48 hours to take effect. But the designated hitter is confident that the shoulder would not be a problem during the regular season.
Choo chalked it up to being 36 and at the beginning of his 15th season in the majors.
“I’m getting old,” Choo said. “I hate to say it, but when you’re getting old, there’s new spots and new areas.”
It was only a few days ago when it became an issue with his throwing. Otherwise, as was the case late last season when the AC joint first started barking, he hasn’t been effected on the field.
“It’s not about my baseball activities,” Choo said. “It’s more like life, driving when I’m in the shower. It started a little bit bothering my throwing. Hitting’s no problem. It was not really getting better. It staying the same.
“I never had a shoulder problem in my career. Last year, it was early September or late August, I had an AC joint problem so I got a shot for the first time. After that it felt good, the whole off-season and then before the start [of spring training] I started feeling it.”
Manager Chris Woodward said that he expects Choo to play right field either this weekend or early next week. The plan during the regular season is for Choo to play a few games a week in the field, same as the blueprint the past two seasons before injuries to Nomar Mazara and others led to Choo playing 136 games in the outfield.
“I guess it depends on the health of the other guys,” Woodward said. “If a guy feels like they need a DH day, I can DH Mazara and put Choo out there. Once or twice a week, possibly, that would be ideal. We’ll see how it goes.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 10:26 AM.
