Another “Korean Big Leaguer,” Bae Ji-hwan (24, Pittsburgh Pirates), is close to returning to Major League Baseball (ML). Bae is currently rehabbing with the Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate, and in just his third game back, he activated the home run machine, indicating that he is in good shape.
Bae went 1-for-3 with a home run, one RBI, and one walk while starting at first base and playing center field in the Gwinnett Strikers’ Triple-A game against the Atlanta Braves at Cooley Field in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on Saturday (June 6).
After striking out in his first at-bat against starter Alan Wynans, Bae walked on a full count in his second at-bat. After throwing out two batters in the bottom of the fourth inning, his big hit finally came. With Indianapolis trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Bae led off with a walk and took a changeup from Wynans over the center field fence. It was a line drive, 105.1 miles per hour (169 km/h), 25-degree launch angle home run that traveled 426 feet (130 meters), according to Statcast. The speed of the ball, 169 mph, was also the highest on the team for the game, so I knew it was going to go over the fence.
He didn’t add another hit, but his long ball off a pitcher who allowed four hits (one home run), two walks, and 10 strikeouts in seven innings gave him the green light to return to the big leagues.
This year, Bae was having an up-and-down first full season, with 11 stolen bases in April and a .304 batting average in May. With his quick feet and 20 stolen bases, he was seen as the spearhead of Pittsburgh’s offense, and he made several outstanding defensive plays while moving back and forth between second base and center field. But in the eighth inning of a home game against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 2, he felt pain while running to first base after hitting a grounder to second base, and was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle.
Pittsburgh, once in first place in the National League Central, switched gears to a rebuild in Bae’s absence. Ahead of the trade deadline, the Pirates traded starting first baseman Carlos Santana to Milwaukee, and at the deadline (Aug. 2), they sent Choi Ji-Man and Rich Hill to the San Diego Padres. They then traded second basemen Rodolfo Castro and Austin Hedges to the Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers, respectively, to make the already young Pirates even younger.온라인카지노
The departure of Castro, who had been splitting time at second base, is good news for Bae, and with Tucupita Marcano and Oniel Cruz still on the disabled list, Bae has no shortage of options at shortstop and second base.
With plenty of opportunities expected, Bae will join Kim Ha-seong (28-San Diego) in attempting to become the first Korean big leaguer to steal 30 bases in a season. He is currently batting .238 with two home runs, 19 RBI, 37 runs scored, 20 doubles, a .301 on-base percentage, a .308 slugging percentage and a .609 OPS in 76 games. With Pittsburgh still 52 games away, a 30-steal season is not out of the question for Bae, who has been known to hit 10 steals in a month.