Despite Wrist Injury, Shin Continues To Power Sharks Offense
When a reporter recently asked Wooyeoul Shin about his offensive statistics, the Sharks right fielder quickly retorted: “I don’t really care about my stats.”
But there is no denying that the South Korean-born outfielder who transitioned from the infield this season is having a banner year.
The 20-year-old is leading the Miami Dade College baseball team with nine home runs and a .600 slugging percentage. He also has a .312 batting average and 31 RBI despite missing 20 games this season after suffering a ligament displacement in his right wrist in the season opener versus the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota on Jan. 28.
“Woo is gritty,” said Sharks pitcher Tyler Monzon. “He is what [junior college baseball] is all about. He works hard. He plays hard. He wants to win. You can see it. You can see that he loves playing baseball. He loves to win. It’s the only thing he wants to do. There is nothing else on his mind other than baseball.”
His toughness has been on full display this season. Despite injuring himself in the outfield on Jan. 28, Shin stayed in the game and hit a walk-off game-winning home run in the Sharks 2-1 win versus the Manatees. He also homered the following day versus Gulf Coast State College.
However, the pain in his wrist became too much to bear. He missed the next 18 games. Despite being told by doctors that the injury would force him to miss 12-16 weeks, he returned three weeks later. The Sharks were a lackluster 9-8-1 when he was out of the lineup.
When he returned to action on Feb. 24 versus SCF, he homered again.
Passion For Baseball Begins
Shin became enthralled with baseball in 2008 during the Olympics in Beijing. That year, South Koreans watched their team win the gold medal versus Cuba.
“A lot of kids started to play baseball after [those] Olympics,” Shin said.
But his parents didn’t allow him to start playing until he was 10 years old. They wanted him to concentrate on his studies. However, by high school, Shin was intent on being a professional baseball player.
At Paichai High School in Seoul, South Korea he was an infielder until his senior year when his coach asked him to switch to center field after another player was injured. That year, Shin had a robust .420 batting average and four homeruns.
Coming To MDC
After the season, an international scout told MDC about Shin. He tried out for the team in November of 2019 but his arrival was delayed until January of 2020 because of COVID.
After a few players had GPA issues, Shin made the team. In his first year, he boasted a .284 batting average, 34 RBI, 25 runs and four homeruns in 34 games and was instrumental in the Sharks winning a state championship.
“He’s a perfectionist,” said Sharks Head Coach Adrian Morales. “He can have a bad round of batting practice and he’s going to get into the [batting] cage until 8 or 9 o’clock at night and try to correct himself. He’s a competitor and he wants to win. When you put winning first, good things happen and he does that.”
That unselfish attitude is applauded by his teammates. They say that even when he is lifted for a pinch hitter, he is always the first to shake the hand of the guy who is replacing him.
“He’s about winning,” Morales said. “He’s about the name on the front, not the name on the back [of the jersey].”
The Sharks’ next game is at the Kendall Campus baseball field, 11011 S.W. 104th St., on Friday, May 6 versus Polk State College at 2 p.m. in the South Atlantic District Tournament. Click here to watch the game.
