Opening roster? Well... Pittsburgh Bae Ji-hwan to start the split squad, one hit and two runs
Mar 18, 2025
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Bae Ji-hwan started in center field twice in the away game of the Greyfurt League against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Merchant Stadium on the 18th (Korea time). It is his first start in two days since the match against the Voltiomer Orioles on the 16th. In the game against the New York Yankees on the 17th, he played as a substitute in the sixth inning and had no hits in one at-bats.
Bae Ji-hwan's start on the day was made under the split squad system. Pittsburgh split the team into two and played the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers at the same time. Team A, which is mainly composed of key players such as Tommy Pham, Brian Reynolds, and O'Neill Cruz, played the Minnesota Twins at their home stadium, Recom Park in Bradenton, Florida.
On the other hand, Bae Ji-hwan was classified as a so-called "B team" aiming to enter the major league roster through backup competition and started against Detroit. In the end, it means that there is no need to give much meaning to starting.
On this day, Bae Ji-hwan scored one hit and two points in four at-bats. His batting average in exhibition games dropped slightly to 0.438 (14 hits in 32 at-bats). This figure also doesn't mean much at the moment. Bae Ji-hwan is showing good batting performance in the exhibition game, but the possibility of entering the Major League's opening roster is slim due to the team situation. The main salary and backup have already been decided to some extent.
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Bae Ji-hwan, who appeared in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning, scooped up the fourth change-up thrown by opposing starter Liz Olson in 1B2S. It was a fly ball to the left, and Detroit left fielder Justin-Henry Malloy missed the ball. Thanks to this, Bae Ji-hwan stepped to second base. It was recorded as a defensive error. Bae Ji-hwan then homered on the right-handed timely triple of the follow-up hitter Enri Rodriguez to achieve his first score.
He hit a double play in the top of the third inning with one out and runners on first base. In the top of the fifth inning, with one out and a runner on the first base, he hit a right-handed hit to send the runner on the first base to the third base. He then came home and scored his second point of the day when he made a mistake at the first base with two outs and runners on the first and third bases.
Bae Ji-hwan faced an RBI chance in his third at-bat in the top of the sixth inning. It was two outs and a runner on second base. However, he failed to add an RBI by only hitting a ground ball to the first base. Bae Ji-hwan, who played four at-bats, was replaced at defense in the bottom of the seventh inning and finished the game.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
