Bae Ji-hwan is good, and Ko Woo-seok is bad. Korean pitching and hitting competition in the minor league, Bae Ji-hwan has one hit, two steals, and three points. Ko Woo-suk allowed two runs after being hit by a home run on two walks
Jul 24, 2025
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Two Korean challengers aiming for the big leagues in the minor leagues had a pitching and hitting match for the first time. A showdown between bullpen pitcher Ko Woo-suk of Triple-A Tolido Mud Hens under the Detroit Tigers and outfielder Bae Ji-hwan of Triple-A Indianapolis Indians under the Pittsburgh Pirates took place.
The result of the match itself was Ko Woo-suk's victory. However, it seems that Ko Woo-seok cannot be called 'winner'. In the end, Bae Ji-hwan's performance was more outstanding. Ko Woo-seok may have won the local match against Bae Ji-hwan, but he bowed his head, allowing two points on the battlefield of the game. In the game, Indianapolis, where Bae Ji-hwan played an active role, won 9-6.
Ko Woo-suk and Bae Ji-hwan met at Victory Field in Indianapolis, Indiana on the 24th (Korea time). Bae Ji-hwan started as the second center fielder, and Ko Woo-seok took the mound as the team's second pitcher while waiting in the bullpen. The final score was 1 hit, 1 RBI, 2 steals and 3 runs in 3 at-bats, while Ko Woo-seok allowed 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs in 1 ⅔ inning.
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Later, Ko Woo-seok struck out Cam Devaney with a swing and miss, but after giving up a walk to Jared Triolo, he allowed another score by giving up a double to Alika Williams and Sean Ross, respectively. The crisis continued with two outs and runners on the second and third bases, but he managed to strike out Jung Zong-jeo with a swing and miss to end the inning.
Ko Woo-seok kept the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning. Fortunately, he didn't lose a point in this inning.
After allowing a walk to leadoff hitter Ronnie Simon, he finally faced Bae Ji-hwan. Bae Ji-hwan's bat came out on the second low outer splitter following the first ball. The second baseman caught the leadoff runner. Bae Ji-hwan was safe at first base.
Ko Woo-seok handled the next batter Nick Solak with a ground ball to third base, and after a rematch with Cook, who had a two-run home run in the previous inning, he caught it with a fly ball to left field this time.
Ko Woo-suk did not take the mound in the seventh inning. On this day, he threw a total of 42 pitches during one ⅔ of innings, 23 of which were strikes. The maximum speed of the four-seam fastball was 95 miles (about 153 kilometers). The ERA rose to 5.09.
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On the other hand, Bae Ji-hwan maintained a good batting sense overall, although he did not get a hit by Ko Woo-seok in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bae Ji-hwan boasted his peak hitting sense by playing '5 hit game' for the first time this year against Toledo the previous day. The performance continued on this day as well.
In his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, he walked and stole second base. Then, when Solak, the follow-up hitter, made a timely hit, he came home and scored the team's first goal. In the bottom of the third inning, he only hit a double play in front of the shortstop, but when he loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, he drew a walk and pushed an RBI. Nick Sulak then came home on a double and scored his second point of the day.
He finally had a hit in the bottom of the eighth inning. After two outs, he came to the plate and lightly pushed Alex Lange's 96-mile first pitch fastball to make it a left-handed hit. Bae Ji-hwan, who went to first base, succeeded in stealing second base for the second time on the day during the subsequent Solak at-bat. Later, with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, which led to Solak's walk, he entered the home with his fast feet when Cook made a timely hit. It was his third score of the day.
With this, Bae maintained a minor league batting average of 0.296 (53 hits in 179 times at bat). The batting average of .300 is just around the corner. A batting average of .300 could signal the imminent re-entry of the Major League. There is a high possibility that he will step back on the major league stage before Ko Woo-seok.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.