An emotional survival with a minimum annual salary of 1.1 billion won! Bae Ji-hwan joins the opening roster of 26 players, and now he will try for the full-time season
Mar 27, 2025
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Bae Ji-hwan was listed on Pittsburgh's 26-man Major League opening roster on the 27th (Korea time).
Bae Ji-hwan has a spot on the roster as a Pittsburgh outfielder, along with Tommy Pham, O'Neill Cruz, Brian Reynolds, Jack Swinsky and Andrew McCutchen. It is the second time in his life that Bae Ji-hwan, who made his Major League debut in 2022, has been included in the opening game list after 2023.
Bae Ji-hwan appeared in 111 games as second baseman and center fielder in 2023, hitting 0.231, two homers, 32 RBIs, 54 runs, and 24 steals, showing the possibility of taking the lead, but he failed to continue his growth as he spent last year in the minor leagues due to injuries and sluggishness.
However, he has another chance this season. This is because he showed an improved batting performance in the exhibition game. In 20 games, he marked a batting average of 0.381 (16 hits in 42 at-bats), one home run, four RBIs, 13 points, three walks, nine strikeouts, three steals, an on-base percentage of 0.422 and a slugging percentage of 0.595 and an OPS of 1.017. He ranked first in batting average, hits, and runs scored in the team.
It is difficult to give much meaning to the exhibition game record itself, but Bae Ji-hwan has achieved his best batting performance since participating in the Major League exhibition game in 2018. He hit his first career home run in the exhibition game, and all categories, including hits, RBIs and runs, hit a career high.
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It is shown in the strikeout rate that Bae Ji-hwan showed an upgraded batting performance to the extent that he was considered a career high in this exhibition game. He entered 45 at-bats, walked four, and struck out only nine times. The strikeout rate is 20.0 percent. The figure is significantly lower than 24.9 percent in 2023 and 29.6 percent last year based on the regular season.
Bae Ji-hwan has been criticized for striking out many fast-footed batters.
In addition, Bae Ji-hwan is relatively strong against left-handed pitchers even though he is a left-handed batter. Bae Ji-hwan's batting average against left-handed pitchers is 0.246 and Swinsky's 0.173. In the case of Bae Ji-hwan, the overall batting average against right-handed pitchers is 0.226, which is stronger than that of left-handed pitchers. Whether the opponent's bullpen gives out his right hand or left hand, it has conditions to be called by Shelton more than Swinsky.
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Among them, Bae Ji-hwan has the lowest annual salary this year among the 26 roster members. According to local media 'DK Pittsburgh Sports', Bae Ji-hwan's annual salary this season is $775,000 (about 1.135 billion won). It is a little more than the minimum major league salary of $760,000.
Along with Bae Ji-hwan, six players, including catcher Andy Rodriguez, starting pitcher Carmen Mozinski, second baseman Nick Gonzalez, first baseman Jared Triolo and left-hander Joey Wentz, will receive the same salary. Pittsburgh's highest-paid player is starting pitcher Mitch Keller, who will receive $15.41 million this year.
Pittsburgh will start its 162-game road trip against the Miami Marlins at Rondipo Park at 5:10 a.m. on the 28th.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
