Minnesota Twins first baseman and designated hitter Byung Ho Park left Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with a right knee contusion.
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Park Expected To Be Back Soon
Saturday, May 7
The Twins announced Park’s injury and stated that he is listed as day to day.
The 29-year-old is in his first year in the major leagues after nine seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, where he was one of the premier power hitters in the game. He signed a four-year, $12 million deal with Minnesota in December.
In his final four seasons in Korea, he launched 31, 37, 52 and 53 home runs, respectively, and was expected to bring some added pop to a Twins team that hit a below-average 156 home runs last year.
Park has done just that as his power numbers have carried over well to the United States with seven home runs in his first 24 games while batting .268.
And it’s big-time power too, as he can knock the cover off the ball:
He has been impressing his teammates throughout the early portions of this season, via Fox Sports North:
In his absence, Joe Mauer and Oswaldo Arcia should step in at designated hitter while Park recovers. They’ll try to compensate for the absence of power, as no one in the lineup has more than four home runs.
With the Twins listing him at day to day, though, Park’s absence shouldn’t be too long to seriously hurt the team.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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