Shin-Soo Choo's disciplined approach has him making a run at Ted Williams' record on-base streak

Choo, who could tie Kevin Millar's 2007 streak on Friday night, is past the halfway point to Williams

Texas Rangers designated hitter-slash-outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has had a busy week. On Tuesday, he became the first Korean-born position player to appear in an All-Star Game. Now, on Friday, Choo will try to make a different kind of history.

For those unaware: Choo has reached base in 51 consecutive games, dating back to mid-May. As Chris Hassel noted during a "Smarter in 60" segment you can watch above, Choo's streak is the longest since Kevin Millar reached in 52 games in a row in 2007.

On the season, Choo is hitting .293/.405/.506. His 141 OPS+ represents the best he's posted since 2013, his one year with the Cincinnati Reds. Meanwhile, he's on pace to finish with an ISO over .200 for the first time in a decade.

How has Choo been able to stay so consistent and productive? It begins with his approach.

Choo is both patient and disciplined. He seldom swings in general, offering on just 40 percent of the pitches he sees. The league-average hitter swings about 46.4 percent of the time. When Choo does swing, he doesn't go after pitches outside of the strike zone: his 21 percent chase rate is seven percentage points better than the league-average mark.

When Choo does swing, he's doing real damage. According to Statcast, nearly 20 percent of his balls in play have qualified as either "solid" contact or a "barrel," a fancy quant way of saying "hit hard." For reference, the average player makes contact of those qualities at a 11.6 percent clip.

To recap: Choo doesn't expand his zone, sees the pitcher's full arsenal, and does a good job of making his swings count. That combination lends itself to drawing walks and hitting the ball hard, the best two ways to get on base.

While Choo could tie Millar's mark on Friday night, he has a way to go before he threatens the all-time big-league record. Ted Williams reached base in 84 consecutive games in 1949. Interestingly enough, Choo has reached via hit more than Williams did in his first 51 games. Meaningful? Not really, but it just goes to show how locked in Choo has been for the last two months.