The Choo-sen One

After an exciting 7-2 road trip, the Mariners were aiming to have a much better series than they just did against the Rockies. The last game was particularly painful since they lost in 11 innings and more importantly, lost Sean Green to back spasms and Jeremy Reed to a broken thumb. Quite literally, the game was a painful loss.

Emiliano Fruto was called up to replace Green, continuing the shuttle the two of them have been riding between the last bullpen spot and Tacoma. This move was an obvious one and should come as no surprise.

However, the Mariners could have gone several ways with Jeremy Reed's replacement. They could have handed the starting job to Willie Bloomquist and recalled Mike Morse to be the utility guy. They could have called up 20-year-old hot prospect Adam Jones, who has been the starting centerfielder for a majority of Tacoma's games and also leads the Rainiers in home runs and RBIs. The oft-injured Chris Snelling is healthy again after major knee surgery and hitting well in Tacoma too.

For now the Mariners have left all of those players in the minors and made the right choice by calling up Shin-Soo Choo. He is quite young himself at 23 years old (though he turns 24 on July 13) and is one of the finest prospects from the Pat Gillick era. This year, Choo has used his sweet left-handed swing to accumulate a .327 batting average with a .401 OBP, .506 SLG, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs and also posseses great speed, as evidenced by 22 steals in just 26 attempts before today's promotion. Choo is a rare five-tool talent and his numbers indicate he is polished enough to be given a shot in the big leagues.

While it was disheartening to see Reed take himself out of yesterday's game and later find out he had broken his thumb, it may be a blessing in disguise for the Mariners. It was time to give Choo a shot in center to see if he could provide more offense and Reed's injury gives the Mariners the opportunity to see what happens, without taking the awkward step of demoting Jeremy. Word is Choo is starting tonight and hitting eighth. I can't wait to see him. Sin-Shoo Choo may be here to stay for good.

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