#17. Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers
2015 WAR: 3.5
2014 WAR: 0.1
WAR Improvement: 3.4
Ask Shin-Soo Choo about the struggles that came before his torrid second half, and he’ll tell you it had to do with his above-the-neck game. Per Kevin Lyttle of the Austin American-Statesman:
My struggles were more mental than physical. You try not to let one bad day lead to another. You have to turn the page, but it can be hard if you do not get the results. I can’t point to any one thing for the turnaround. I had one good game, then another, and it kept building. You can listen to advice, get suggestions, but you’ve got to trust yourself. I finally reached that point.
Confidence helped Choo start to redeem himself — as did getting healthy, a bit more effort in the field and a strong eye at the plate.
But luck matters, too.
Choo is better than he played during the first half of 2015, but that doesn’t mean his astronomical numbers after the All-Star break were sustainable. The 33-year-old doesn’t have the same speed he possessed during his prime years with the Cleveland Indians, and his 22 homers were a bit fluky.
Betting on him replicating an 18.8 HR/FB — the best mark of his MLB career and well clear of his lifetime 14.4 HR/FB — would be foolish.