Bae Ji-hwan (26, Pittsburgh Pirates), who is seeking to join the Major League's opening roster for the first time in two years since 2023, has been hitless and silent. On the other hand, his rival hit long balls.
Pittsburgh held a 2025 exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida on the 24th (Korea time).
Bae was not listed on the starting lineup on the day. After playing in the eighth inning with a big defense, Bae had a chance to bat in the ninth inning, but was struck out.
Accordingly, Bae Ji-hwan had a batting average of 0.400, one home run, four RBIs, and an on-base percentage of 0.429 OPS 1.054 in 19 exhibition games so far.
He still has a batting average of .400 and an OPS of over 1.000, but playing as a substitute in the exhibition game ahead of the opening of the regular season is not a good sign. 스포츠토토
Zack Swinsky, who is also in the roster race with Bae, started as center fielder and hit a double. He showed a different side from Bae.
Swinsky has also maintained good performance at exhibition games with a batting average of 0.375 and an on-base percentage of 0.422 OPS of 1.022. This suggests that Swinsky is a little more advantageous.
However, Bae already has nothing more to show in the Minor League. He had a batting average of 0.342 with an on-base percentage of 0.433 OPS of 0.937 in 66 Triple-A games last year.
Now, the exhibition game of Pittsburgh ends with the game against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. The opening game is an away game against the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
Attention is focusing on whether Bae Ji-hwan, who is aiming to enter the Major League's opening roster, will be at Rondipo Park, Miami's home stadium, on the 28th.