The fearless play of Pittsburgh Pirates Bae Ji-hwan (24) stole the hearts of his teammates. Teammate outfielder Conor Cho (31), a Chinese big leaguer, also praised him.
Bae Ji-hwan surprised viewers with two super catches against the St. Louis Cardinals on the 14th (hereafter Korean time). He came out in center field and erased two hits with a jumping catch in front of the fence in the 4th inning followed by a diving catch in the 5th, contributing to the team’s 5-0 victory. Pittsburgh is cruising early in the season with 8 wins and 5 losses.
In particular, in the 4th inning crisis with 2nd out, 2nd and 3rd base, the highlight was that he jumped and caught a long-hit ball that seemed likely to hit St. Louis Tyler O’Neill’s left-middle fence to the end. In the process, his head hit the fence and he fell down, but with the help of left fielder Connor Joe, he stood up and smiled.
Connor Joe, who watched the scene right next to him, was also impressed. According to local media such as ‘MLB.com’, Joe said, “Playing the fence is not easy. There is a buffer, but it still hurts when you bump into it,” he said. The biggest advantage of Bae Ji-hwan is that he has no fear. He runs with energy and enjoyment. It’s fun to watch it from the side,” he praised Bae Ji-hwan’s recklessness.
Bae Ji-hwan also showed off a super catch in front of a picturesque fence against the Boston Red Sox on the 5th. At that time, in the 8th inning with 1 out, he jumped up on a ball that seemed to hit Rafael Devers’ green monster in the middle left and jumped and caught it, surprising everyone.
Bae Ji-hwan’s original position was an infielder, where he mainly saw second baseman and shortstop, so his quick adaptability as an outfielder is surprising. Bae Ji-hwan, who plays second base and center fielder, played multiple positions in 5 out of 11 games this year.
Joe, who joined Pittsburgh this year and is with him for the first time, said, “Bae Ji-hwan is playing in various positions. He is a pro who can’t play in just one place, but shows his athletic ability by preparing for the game in the right way. He’s young, and he’s headed in the right direction.”
Bae Ji-hwan, who started serving as an outfielder in 2021, but he does not feel the difficulty of multi-position. His motor nerves aren’t the only thing he’s born with. He doesn’t panic in any situation and can’t ignore the personality factor that he recklessly sticks to. Pittsburgh coach Derek Shelton also said, “Bae Ji-hwan is not afraid. He doesn’t embarrass him much,” he said.
Meanwhile, Joe, a Chinese-American outfielder whose mother was known to be of Korean descent, but it turned out to be untrue, made his major league debut in 2019 with the San Francisco Giants. After overcoming testicular cancer in 2020, he recorded an OPS of .744 with 147 hits, 15 home runs, and 63 RBIs in 174 games for the Colorado Rockies in 2021-2022 for two years. After last year’s season, he was traded to Pittsburgh, and in 8 games this season,토토사이트 he is batting 3.9 1 Lee (9 hits in 23 at-bats), 1 home run, 3 RBIs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, and is wielding an OPS of 1.134.