It appears official that Choo Choo Train was the biggest impetus for the Cleveland Indians in spite of the club's poor performance in the first half of this Major League Baseball season.
On their website, Wednesday, the Indians named Choo Shin-soo, currently the sole Korean Major Leaguer, their MVP for the first half of the season citing the 28-year-old outfielder as "the Tribe's most consistent threat in an inconsistent offense" before he suffered a right thumb sprain earlier this month.
Choo is reportedly recovering quickly from the injury that has been hindering the slugger from playing throughout July. He hurt his hand on July 4 in a failed diving attempt to catch Jack Cust's one-out double in the eighth inning of the game against the Oakland Athletics.
Before the injury, Choo was pivotal in the team's offense, leading the squad in batting average (.286), home runs (13), RBIs (43) and on-base percentage (.390).
The Korean player is expected to be back in the lineup before the month is out.
"If everything works out the way it's going right now, he could be back sooner than a lot of us were anticipating," Indians manager Manny Acta said.