Oh, Bae-by! Pirates rookie produces two more gems

ST. LOUIS -- Vince Velasquez is contemplating how he should reward Ji Hwan Bae. Maybe lunch. Maybe dinner. Maybe a bottle of his spirit of choice. Regardless of what Bae picks, the selection will be well-deserved.

A week after submitting his early entry for catch of the year, Bae recorded another pair of defensive gems, one of which being his second, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, run-saving grab in as many weeks. His defense set the tone for the Pirates’ 5-0 win over the Cardinals on Thursday at Busch Stadium, and through three weeks, he owns the three most exhilarating highlights produced by any Pirate all season. As for his prize for tonight, he’s eyeing the pricier options.

“[Colin] Holderman bought me coffee last time. [Velasquez] has to buy the more expensive one because it was twice,” Bae joked through team interpreter Daniel Park.

Considering Bae’s role in Velasquez’s brilliant start -- six innings, no runs, six strikeouts -- Velasquez likely won’t mind indulging his center fielder.

In the bottom of the fourth, Tyler O’Neill scorched a deep fly ball to left-center field. Off the bat, it appeared that O’Neill was going to break the scoreless tie, driving in the runners on second and third with two outs.

Enter, Bae.

The rookie sprinted to left-center, left his feet, secured the ball and banged headfirst into the wall. The ferocity of the crash forced Bae onto his back, but he maintained control of the ball even as he tumbled to the earth.

“The wall’s not the easiest thing to play,” said left fielder Connor Joe, who hit his first home run of the season as part of a back-to-back sequence with Rodolfo Castro in the eighth. “You know it’s there. There’s padding, but it still hurts. To see him be athletic, fearless out there — man, he’s so fun. I think fearless is the biggest thing. He’s having fun. He’s playing with energy. He’s doing his thing, which is so fun to see."

“I don’t think he’s scared,” said manager Derek Shelton. “We talked the other day about liking the [bright] lights, there’s not much that really fazes him.”

The next inning, Bae added another phenomenal play to his defensive resumé, tracking down Alec Burleson’s sinking liner and making a diving snag. The Pirates recently began giving out a plastic sword whenever a player homers. Bae believes that defense should be recognized, too.

“You know how we started the sword ceremony?” Bae said. “I think we should start one with defense. If we catch a ball, we should do something else.”

Those two plays are far from Bae’s only highlights this season. In Boston, Bae made a leaping catch to take extra bases away from Rafael Devers. Earlier this week, he launched a three-run, walk-off home run to upset the defending champions. Between his two catches and the game-winner, Bae has orchestrated arguably the Pirates' best, second-best and third-best plays of the season, plays that will be difficult to usurp.

The plays are impressive on their own, but more so given that Bae is relatively new to center field. He didn’t start playing the position until 2021, and between the Majors and Minors, he’s played only about 300 innings at the position. What Bae lacks in experience, he makes up for in his athleticism, namely his 94th percentile sprint speed.

For all the highlights, however, the Pirates are unlikely to name Bae their starting center fielder and call it a day.

With Oneil Cruz out for the next four months and Castro becoming the starting shortstop, Bae will receive substantial playing time at second base and will make occasional starts at shortstop. There’s also the matter of Jack Suwinski, who leads the Pirates in innings played at center field (46). Suwinski owns an unsavory .130/.250/.261 slash line across 28 plate appearances thus far, but his peripherals remain outstanding.

Bae might not be Pittsburgh’s starting center fielder nor their starting second baseman, but what he is becoming is a mainstay in the lineup. On four occasions, Bae has started a game at second base, then moved to center field for defensive purposes. Bae has also had one game where he began in center field, then moved to second base. In total, Bae has had six games in which he has played just one position and five games where he’s played multiple positions.

There will be no shortage of playing time, nor will there be a shortage of opportunities for him to flash the leather. And if Bae goes viral again, his pitcher should start brainstorming what gifts are in store.