Ji-Man Choi will not play in the World Baseball Classic next month, with the Pirates citing health concerns after he had surgery on his right elbow last November.
The news comes from Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency, a Korean news outlet, who reports that Choi is "deeply hurt" to be dropped from the team.
"I was healthy enough to take live batting practice recently," Choi said in a released statement through his agency. "I am extremely disappointed and deeply hurt, because I was building up nicely for the national team training camp in the middle of this month and the first round of the WBC.