Bae Ji-hwan, the No. 1 hitter with a batting average, joins the roster as a backup and plays as a substitute despite a realistic multi-hit
Mar 17, 2025
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Bae Ji-hwan played as a substitute in an away exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Stain Brenner Field in Tampa, Florida on the 17th (Korea time) and recorded no hits in one at-bats.
Bae Ji-hwan was used as a left fielder in the bottom of the sixth inning when the score was 2-2. He then moved to center field in the seventh inning. And in the top of the ninth inning, he was out with a fly ball to right field. The leadoff hitter Bae Ji-hwan vigorously pulled a 78-mile high sweeper on the third pitch off the two-strike against left-hander Rob Zastrizny, but was caught by right fielder Jackson Castillo at 352 feet after flying at 93.4 mph.
With this, Bae Ji-hwan marked a batting average of 0.464 (13 hits in 28 at-bats) in 14 spring training games, one home run, three RBIs, nine runs, three steals, and an OPS of 1.197. He is still No. 1 in batting average and hits in the team.
He started in left field at No. 9 against the Baltimore Orioles the day before and was pushed back to the bench again despite his strong performance with two hits and two runs from three times at bat, including a double. Bae started in seven games, half of the 14 spring training games. However, since the 10th, there have been much more substitute appearances. Five of the seven recent games have been replacement members.
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The Pittsburgh outfield is also composed of left fielder Tommy Pham, center fielder O'Neill Cruz, and right fielder Brian Reynolds. MLB.com Pittsburgh reporter Alex Stump also classified the three as key outfielders in anticipation of Pittsburgh's opening lineup.
Considering his salary and major league career, it is unreasonable for Bae Ji-hwan to enter as the main outfielder. First of all, Reynolds boasts the highest ransom among hitters in the team with an annual salary of $12.25 million this year alone. Tommy Pham, who was brought in through an FA contract last winter, will receive an annual salary of $4.025 million. Last year, he played for three teams and hit a batting average of 0.248 (109 hits in 440 times at bat).
Cruz is treated as Pittsburgh's next big hitter. This year's annual salary is around $800,000, similar to Bae Ji-hwan's, but he marked a batting average of 0.259 (140 hits in 541 at-bats), 21 homers, 76 RBIs and an OPS of 0.773 in 146 games last year. Cruz, who mostly watched shortstop, moved to the outfield this year.
However, reporter Stump didn't even put Bae Ji-hwan on the 26-man roster at all. Nine key hitters were selected as backup agents other than catcher Henry Davis, utility fielder Adam Frazier, Jared Triolo and Zach Swinsky. They are also ahead of Bae Ji-hwan in ransom and career. Bae's realistic goal is to join the opening roster.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
