Jokester Choi making serious push to break camp with Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Lately, Ji Man Choi has taken to doing a “Joey Wendle hit-and-run” impression, making fun of his teammate’s physique and mannerisms, while the Mets kill time around the Spring Training batting cage.

Choi knows Wendle from their mutual time together as members of the Tampa Bay Rays, but he’ll poke fun at just about anyone. It’s rapidly made him a popular presence in a room full of people who, one month ago, were mostly strangers.

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“You see it on TV,” said Wendle, who played four seasons with Choi from 2018-21, “but it’s the same kind of stuff around the clubhouse.”

In Choi, who signed a Minor League contract right at the start of Spring Training, the Mets certainly have a contender for their next open mic night. They also might have an option for their bench. Choi is one of 10 position players still in camp battling for what appears to be a single bench spot.

Choi and DJ Stewart, a fellow left-handed bat, are the most obvious candidates atop that list.

Choi, a native Korean, politely declined a request to talk because he is not comfortable conducting interviews in English. But his teammates say he speaks conversational English, with enough command of it to joke liberally in his adopted language.

“He understands a lot,” Wendle said. “It’s not perfect, but enough to communicate decently well with his English-speaking teammates. So, he definitely brings something unique to the team. He’s high-energy, really good at engaging with the fans, kind of developing a rapport with them.”

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Often, Choi likes to banter with fans requesting autographs before finally relenting and signing. When Major League teams returned to play following the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, Choi reported to the Tampa Bay clubhouse with his own branded “Ji Man Choi Hand Sanitizer.”

His most viral moment probably occurred during his rookie season with the Angels in 2016, when Choi told reporters that he slept poorly during a trip to the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee because he had been haunted by a ghost. Choi went on to say he had seen ghosts “plenty of times,” including a spirit that once hugged him.

“He makes me laugh all the time,” said Brooks Raley, another former Rays teammate. When pressed for examples of Choi’s devilishness, Raley quipped: “I don’t know if they’re appropriate.”

Of course, the Mets didn’t sign Choi to a contract worth up to $3.5 million because they find his brand of humor funny. There’s a pretty solid skillset behind the comic relief: Choi owns a career .764 OPS and 112 league-adjusted OPS+ over parts of eight Major League seasons.

Even last year, when Choi suffered through a difficult summer that saw him spend months recovering from an Achilles strain, he rated near the top of MLB (in a small sample size) in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and sweet-spot percentage, according to Statcast metrics.

“He’s a good player as well,” Wendle said. “Not that that goes overlooked, but he consistently just puts together good at-bats. He’s a good defensive first baseman. He’s saved me I-don’t-know-how-many times over there at first base with his picks and his stretches, and stuff like that.

“So with what he can bring to the clubhouse, he’s a really solid player.”

Hot at the plate to open Grapefruit League play, Choi impressed Mets officials right away with his power and plate discipline. His batting practice sessions are spectacles. And while Choi has cooled of late, going 0-for-9 over his past three games, he has still outperformed fellow non-roster slugger Luke Voit in camp.

That has effectively brought the conversation down to him and Stewart.

Both have a chance. But unlike Stewart, who was on the team in 2023, Choi is widely considered a solid defender. Perhaps most importantly, Choi has a late-March opt-out in his contract, while Stewart has an accessible Minor League option.

Choosing Choi over Stewart may be the only way for the Mets to keep both players in the organization.

Those are decisions the Mets won’t need to make for another week and a half. Until then, Choi will keep stating his case on and off the field.

“You wouldn’t know that he’s fighting for a job here,” Wendle said. “He’s just having fun, kind of keeping it light, keeping it easy. I think that’s what makes him so signable, what makes him so desirable to have on your team.”