MiLB Player of the Day: Won-Bin Cho
Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Player of the Day
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Won-Bin Cho Provides Springfield’s Lonely Home Run in Sunday Loss
Won-Bin Cho gave Springfield something to carry out of a rough Sunday night.
The Cardinals fell 10-2 to the Arkansas Travelers at Route 66 Stadium, but Cho supplied Springfield’s loudest swing, going 1-for-4 with a solo home run, one RBI and one run scored.
It was his seventh home run of the season and another reminder that Cho’s power has followed him to Double-A.
Springfield did not have much go right in this one. Arkansas scored twice in the second, twice more in the third and then broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning. The Travelers eventually finished with 10 runs on only seven hits, taking advantage of 11 walks from Springfield pitching.
That made offense hard to matter.
But Cho still found a way to leave his mark.
His home run gave Springfield one of its two runs and stood as the Cardinals’ biggest offensive moment of the night. On a day when several affiliates had quiet bats, Cho’s swing stood out enough to earn Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day honors.
The larger story is what Cho continues to do since reaching Springfield. The Double-A jump is not a small step. Pitchers have better command, better secondary stuff and a better plan. Mistakes are not as common, and young hitters do not get many free gifts.
Cho has not backed away from that challenge.
He has continued to show impact power, and that matters for a player whose offensive profile is starting to take on more shape. The tools have always been interesting. The size, strength and athleticism were never hard to see. The question was whether the production would follow as he moved into the upper levels of the system.
Lately, the answer has been encouraging.
Sunday’s game will not go into the Springfield scrapbook. It was a frustrating loss, and the Cardinals never found a way to climb back into it. But Player of the Day is not always about being on the winning side. Sometimes it is about identifying the best individual performance on the board, even when the final score goes the wrong way.
Cho earned that recognition.
His line was simple: one hit, one home run, one RBI, one run.
But on a quiet offensive day across the system, that swing carried weight.
That is why Won-Bin Cho is the Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day.
Old School Take: When the game gets away from your club, you still look for who competed and who made an impact. Won-Bin Cho gave Springfield its biggest swing Sunday night, and his power continues to be one of the better developments in the system.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Won-Bin Cho, Springfield Cardinals | MiLB