What if the spring training medium for Bae Ji-hwan, double double two-way roster pressure protection hits a hit and doesn't pick the first place in the double team?
Mar 20, 2025
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Pittsburgh Pirates' Bae Ji-hwan is making a spurt at the end of the exhibition game. He gave the green light to enter the opening roster.
In an away exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fort Charlotte Sports Park in Florida on the 20th (Korea time), Bae Ji-hwan hit hard with two hits, one RBI, one run and one walk from three times at bat. Both hits were doubles, with fast feet and long balls.
Bae Ji-hwan, who started as a leadoff center fielder, stepped down with a shortstop fly in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning.
However, he gave his team its first run with a timely double in the third inning, trailing 0-3. In a chance provided by Henry Davis' heavy hit after one out, Bae Ji-hwan accurately pushed Tampa Bay right-hander Jack Rittel's outer ball, fell to the left of left field, and hit a double that flowed to the front of the fence to bring home first baseman Davis.
Bae Ji-hwan then took advantage of the opponent's defense's relay to run to third base and then homered when Todd Frazier grounded out to second base to narrow the gap to 2-3.
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However, Pittsburgh failed to score additional points after subsequent Frazier and Tommy Pham stepped down as bums.
Rittel, who took away two doubles by Bae Ji-hwan, was Tampa Bay's ace last year. In 29 games, he pitched 156 ⅓ innings, 8-10 with a 3.63 ERA and 141 strikeouts. This season, the starters, including Shane McClanahan, who returned from injury, are outstanding, but they are expected to take a spot in the rotation.
Bae Ji-hwan walked after one out of the seventh inning with a 2-3 score and succeeded in getting on base for the third time on the day. And he was replaced in defense in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Pittsburgh lost 2-5.
With this, Bae Ji-hwan marked a batting average of 0.444 (16 hits in 36 at-bats), one home run, four RBIs, 12 points, three steals, two walks, six strikeouts and an OPS of 1.168 in 17 spring training games. Bae Ji-hwan, who has played in the last 10 consecutive games, has played in nine games as a starter and eight as a substitute, and in the last eight games, he has four games each as a starter and a substitute.
In other words, the possibility of being included in the 26-man opening roster has increased significantly.
After the game, local media 'Pittsburgh Baseball Now' is a spring training for Bae Ji-hwan, who posted a slash line of 0.444/0.474/0.694 in 17 games. He has the No. 1 batting average, hit, and double in the team, and has one home run, four RBIs and three steals. Last year, he didn't meet expectations because of injuries, but he's playing couldn't be better in this spring training session,' he said.
Pittsburgh will take a day off on the 21st and end the exhibition game with four games from the 22nd to the 25th.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
