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Ji-man Choi knew his latest stint in the majors would probably be a short one. After making the Opening Day roster, GM David Stearns was quoted as saying Choi “understood his roster situation,” implying that he likely wouldn’t be around for long. That seemed to be confirmed a little more than an hour later, when it was reported the Brewers were signing lefty reliever Dan Jennings.
The move was made official today, and Choi was optioned down after making all of one (very important) at-bat for the Brewers.
Lefty reliever @LtDanJennings has been signed to a 1-year contract. He will wear uniform number 38. 1B/OF Ji-Man Choi has been optioned to Triple-A @skysox. pic.twitter.com/kaNG0g3roG
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 30, 2018
To make room for Jennings on the 40-man roster, Jimmy Nelson was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.
Choi could still be back later in the season — multiple times, even — on his final minor league option. But even if he isn’t, he got some reinforcement from bench coach Pat Murphy before his game-changing 2-out double and scoring the winning run:
Ji-Man Choi talked afterward about great pre-game pep talk he got from #Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy: "He said I'm a major-league caliber player and that uplifted me and gave me confidence. When I came in to pinch hit, I had that confidence to do well." Pretty cool.
— Tom (@Haudricourt) March 30, 2018
If he doesn’t take another at-bat for the Brewers, he’ll join Carlos Corporan in the history books as players to hit 1.000 in their only Brewers at-bat. Given how much the organization seems to like him, though, it’s probably a safe bet he’ll at the very least be back up in September.
Jennings will be a fresh arm for a bullpen that was tested in Game One of the season, when everyone but Oliver Drake and Brandon Woodruff appeared in the game.