Oh my god! You've devoted yourself for 8 years. What an ending… Pittsburgh's impact decision, Bad Ji-hwan's waivers are announced. Is this the end of the Major League challenge
Nov 05, 2025
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Bae Ji-hwan (26), who left for the U.S. eight years ago with a booming dream of showing his skills on the major league stage, faces the biggest crisis in his career. His team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have devoted their passion to success for eight years, eventually announced Bae Ji-hwan as a waver. It's a decision that I can't wait any longer.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a local media familiar with Pittsburgh news, reported on the 5th (Korea time) 'The Pittsburgh club announced outfielder Bae Ji-hwan, infielder Reover Peguero, and pitcher Jack Little as waivers' Accordingly, Bae Ji-hwan will change his affiliation to a minor league if no other team takes him within seven days. It means he's no longer a major leaguer.
The Pittsburgh club needs to overhaul its 40-man roster by the 7th. Five players on the 60-day injured list must be included in the 40-man roster, which means that five players must be excluded from the existing position. For now, Pittsburgh has sorted out three players first as of the 5th, and the other two will also be sorted out.
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Bae Ji-hwan was included in the opening roster after showing considerable competitiveness in this season's spring camp, raising expectations. In 20 spring camp games, he hit a batting average of 0.381 (16 hits in 42 at-bats), one home run, four RBIs, 13 points, three walks, three steals, and OPS 1.017, ranking first in the team's batting average, hits, and runs.
However, these expectations went up in smoke in just two games. Spring camp's outstanding performance didn't work in the `Real Major League.' In addition, Bae Ji-hwan's careless play was also the cause of the Pittsburgh coaching staff's eyes. On March 30, his first start, he struck out three and went 0-for-4 against Miami. The next day, he came out as a pinch runner against Miami and ran out of Pittsburgh coach Derek Shelton's eyes after showing a chaotic base play.
In the end, Bae Ji-hwan suffered his first minor league relegation on April 4. Bae Ji-hwan, who had a pretty good performance in Indianapolis since then, was called up to the big league on May 10 and got a chance again. However, he continued his sluggish performance with one hit in seven at-bats (0.143 batting average) in just five games, and eventually was notified of his trip to the minor leagues again in a week.
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Bae Ji-hwan received his third big league call-up of the year on September 8. However, he failed to take full advantage of this opportunity. He has played in six games since the September call-up, but has not had a single hit. He failed to target Major League pitchers at all.
Even the base running ability, which is evaluated as the only advantage, was poor. The feet may be fast, but only the fatal problem of not helping the team was exposed due to poor baseball sense and concentration in the game. Bae Ji-hwan, who got on base with a walk in his first at-bat in the top of the second inning against the Washington Nationals on September 15, immediately stole second base when he was at-bat with the next batter, Jared Triol. He tried to finish with a headfirst sliding by taking advantage of his fast speed. The start was fast, and the connection between running and sliding was fast. It was a comfortable safe timing.
However, Bae Ji-hwan did not finish the sliding properly. It should have stopped at the second base, but the foot fell off the base because he couldn't control the sliding speed. Immediately, the tag was placed, and out was declared. Later, Bae Ji-hwan struck out consecutively in the seventh and ninth innings following a grounder to shortstop in the top of the fourth inning, and was immediately notified of his trip to the minor leagues after the game.
In the end, it can be said that the Pittsburgh club has clearly grasped the limitations of Bae Ji-hwan through this season. The waiver disclosure contains the will to no longer give the Major League a chance.
With this, Bae Ji-hwan is likely to end his eight-year relationship with Pittsburgh.
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In 2023, he played in 111 Major League games and recorded a batting average of 0.231, two home runs, 32 RBIs, 54 runs, 24 steals, and an OPS of 0.608, expressing his expectation that he can grow into a full-time major leaguer. However, due to overlapping hip injuries in 2024, he played only 29 games. The hit, which continued to be pointed out as a weakness, got worse. The batting average was only 0.189.
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Now Bae Ji-hwan is at a critical juncture in his career. First of all, the eight-year relationship with Pittsburgh is over. You have to find a new team to try again in the major leagues.
Sports Illustrated, an American media outlet, said of Bae Ji-hwan 'Still young at 26 years old and strong on his fast feet and range of defense. The team that wants to change is likely to review it with a low risk card. But this is a fundamental story. No specific team wants a badge yet. As it is not an immediate sense of power, even if a new team is found, it is likely to happen at the end of the stove league.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
