Ji Hwan Bae (pronounced JEE-wahn BAY)...Wife's name is Elly...Loves eating home-cooked meals when he goes back to South Korea...His favorite food is Korean barbecue...Favorite players growing up were Ichiro Suzuki and Trea Turner...Puts on baseball camps for children in South Korea during the offseason.
2024
Spent majority of season with Indianapolis... Ranked first in batting average, third in on-base percentage, fifth in wRC+ (147) and seventh in OPS among International League hitters with at least 250 plate appearances...Was named to the International League post-season All-Star team as an outfielder... Began the season on the 10-day injured list with a left hip muscle strain...Began a rehab assignment with Bradenton on 4/7 and went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI (his only rehab game with the Marauders)…Had his rehab transferred to Indy on 4/9 and went 2-for-4 with a solo home run that night at Toledo...Was returned from rehab, reinstated from the I.L and optioned to Triple-A on 4/14...Hit safely in each of his first nine Minor League games (including rehab), going 14-for-31 (.429) with a 1.127 OPS through 4/23...Scored at least one run in eight straight games from 4/14-25 (12 runs total)... Was leading the International League with a .367 batting average and .479 OBP when he was recalled on 5/21...Went 1-for-3 with an RBI, stolen base and two runs scored while playing center field in season debut on 5/21 vs. San Francisco... Went 5-for-24 (.208) with two RBI, two stolen bases and five runs scored in eight big league games before being placed on the 10-day injured list on 6/4 (retro to 6/3) with a right wrist sprain...Began a rehab assignment with Indianapolis on 6/21...Was returned from rehab, reinstated from the I.L. and optioned to Indy on 6/24...Produced a .373 (19-for-51) average, .421 OBP and .931 OPS in his 13 Triple-A games in July...Was recalled on 7/26...Left the game on 7/29 at Houston with left knee discomfort after trying to avoid a tag at first base...Was hitting .190 (8-for-42) with a .244 OBP in August (16 games) when he was optioned to Indianapolis on 8/27...Made 15 starts in center field, 12 appearances (six starts) in right field and one appearance at second base (5/26 vs. Atlanta) while playing with the Pirates...Made 28 starts in center field, 19 at second base, eight in right field, four in left field and one at shortstop while playing with Indianapolis.
2023
Led the team with 24 stolen bases; the most by a Pittsburgh rookie since Tony Womack set the club record for a rookie with 60 stolen bases in 1997...Was the Opening Day starter at second base and went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases...Connected off Nick Pivetta for first Major League home run on 4/4 at Fenway Park; joined Atlanta’s Vaughn Grissom (8/10/22) as the only National League players to hit their first career home runs at Fenway Park...Hit a three-run walk-off homer off Houston’s Ryan Pressly in the ninth inning on 4/11...Combined with Ji Man Choi to become the first set of South Korean teammates to homer in the same game on 4/11...Had three hits and stole three bases on 4/26 vs. Los Angeles; the most SB by a Pirates player since Starling Marte had three on 7/6/18...Became the first Pirates player since Starling Marte (17 stolen bases) in 2016 to have 15-plus stolen bases prior to 6/1...Was placed on the 10-day injured list on 7/2 with a left ankle sprain...Collected his first big league triple on 9/6 vs. Milwaukee...Had a career-high eight-game hitting streak from 9/5-13...Made 64 appearances (56 starts) at second base, 62 appearances (33 starts) in center field and three starts at shortstop.
2022
Was selected to the big league roster on 9/23 and made his Major League debut that night vs. Chicago (NL); started at second base and went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases while batting ninth...Singled off Erich Uelmen for his first big league hit...Had two hits in the same inning (third) on 10/4 vs. St. Louis...Spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was named the team’s MVP...Ranked eighth in the International League in batting (.289), tied for fifth in triples (six) and tied for eighth in runs scored (81)...Ranked second among all Pirates minor leaguers in stolen bases (30); his 30 stolen bases were also the most by an Indianapolis player since Alen Hanson had 36 in 2016...Made 57 appearances at second base, 24 at shortstop, 20 in center field, eight in left field and one at third base...Reached base safely in 28 straight games from 4/27 through 6/1, going 37-for-109 (.339) with eight doubles, three triples, five home runs, 23 RBI, a .431 OBP and a 1.037 OPS...Was named Indianapolis’ player-of-the-month for May after reaching base safely in every game of the month en route to a career-high 28-game on-base streak...Ranked among the International League leaders in triples (second, three), runs scored (second, 25), hits (tied for sixth, 29), total bases (tied for eighth, 50), OBP (ninth, .427) and OPS (10th, .983) during the month of May...Was on the Seven-Day Injured List from 7/28-8/18 with a strained left oblique.
2021
Entered season ranked as Pittsburgh’s ninth-best prospect according to Baseball America...Was also listed as the ninth-best shortstop prospect by MLB. com...Hit a combined .281 (92-for-327) with 12 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 33 RBI and 20 stolen bases between Double-A Altoona and Pittsburgh’s two Florida Complex League teams while on rehab...Became the first Korean-born player to suit up for Altoona...Finished tied for fifth among all Pirates minor leaguers in stolen bases... Ranked fifth in the Northeast League in stolen bases (20), eighth in runs scored (63) and tied for second in triples (five)...Hit .424 (14-for-33) with a .500 OBP during a nine-game on-base streak that ended on 5/16...Was placed on the injured list with an injured left knee on 6/9 after a collision with Cal Mitchell on 6/8...Began a rehab assignment on 7/2 in the Florida Complex League...Hit first professional home run in first game on rehab on 7/2...Was activated from the injured list on 7/6...Hit .292 in 18 games in July after returning from the injured list...Made his first career start in the outfield (center field) on 8/1...Recorded a 25-game on-base streak with the Curve from 8/15 to 9/16; the longest by an Altoona player for the season (sixth-longest in the Northeast League)...Hit the first eight home runs of his career after 7/1...Made 65 appearances (63 starts) at second base and one start in center field while playing with Altoona...Hit .250 (23-for-92) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBI and eight stolen bases in 23 games for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League...Was named to the Falls Stars Game.
2020
Was ranked by Baseball America as Pittsburgh’s seventh-best prospect entering the season; was also listed by the same publication as the “Best Hitter for Average” in the Pirates minor league system...Was a member of the taxi squad at the alternate training site in Altoona...Was rated by MLB Pipeline as the “Best Runner” in the Pirates minor league system following the season.
