BRADENTON, Fla. — Eighteen-year-old Korean shortstop Ji-hwan Bae made his Grapefruit League debut Monday, pinch-running for Jordy Mercer in the seventh inning of the Pirates’ 6-3 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies. From his brief cameo on the basepath, Bae’s speed — one of the skills that attracted the Pirates to him in the first place — was evident, and he scored from second on a single. While Bae is years away from making his major-league debut, the Pirates are intrigued by the young shortstop, who first drew their interest two years ago.
It might not be much consolation for Pirates fans right now, but the end of Andrew McCutchen’s tenure in Pittsburgh to some extent sowed the seeds for Bae’s own path with the Pirates. Earlier this month, the Pirates signed Bae for $1.2 million, according to a source. They were able to do so by using part of the international bonus pool space that the Pirates acquired in the McCutchen trade, general manager Neal Huntington said. While the Atlanta Braves reached a deal with Bae in September, he became available again because of sanctions against that team.
“He’s got tools,” Pirates director of international scouting Junior Vizcaino said. “He can run, he can spray the ball around, and he’s got surprising power when he gets his feet under him. He can drive the ball with authority. He loves to play the game.”
Soft-spoken and generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, with a mushroom cut that highlights his youthful features, Bae said he was drawn to the Pirates for their player development system.
“Since he got out from Braves, there were several teams who showed interest, but Pirates were the most active team approaching, so that’s why he chose Pirates,” interpreter Bumyun Hahn said in the LECOM Park clubhouse.
Growing up in Korea, Bae has long been a fan of American baseball, in particular following the careers of Jose Altuve and fellow Koreans Hyun-jin Ryu and Shin-Soo Choo. He also said he was a fan of Jung Ho Kang even before Kang played for the Pirates.
“When he was small, he only watched Korean baseball, but since Choo started playing for [Cleveland] Indians … his dream was becoming a big-league player,” Hahn said.
While the signing is recent, the Pirates have been scouting Bae since the middle of 2016, watching his work at high school tournaments in Korea, said Tony Harris, the international scout who supervises the area. Bae played second base at the time, and the Pirates were intrigued by his athleticism and natural movements on the field. Bae’s eventual transition from second base to shortstop, Harris said, made him an even more appealing possibility.
“He continued to develop, which was good, in pretty much every aspect of his game,” Harris said by phone from Korea. “His approach has changed. It looked like he had just started to understand his role a little better as a leadoff guy with speed.”
The Pirates continued to monitor Bae’s progress, following him to Thunder Bay, Canada, in September, where they watched him play with the Korean baseball team in the U-18 Baseball World Cup. Bae hit.286 with five RBIs and two steals in nine games in that tournament.
Nevertheless, Bae decided to sign with the Braves, and the Pirates moved on — until November, when MLB sanctioned the Braves for various violations of the league’s draft and international bonus policies. The Braves were forced to forfeit 13 international prospects, including Bae, and the Pirates decided to reach out again.
Over the next couple of months, the Pirates and Bae continued talking, negotiating and chatting in person and by phone. There were at least a couple of other teams still in on Bae, Harris said, but this time the Pirates sealed the deal.
“We see him long-term as a shortstop,” Huntington said. “Ten years from now, time will tell if that was the right call, but we do see him as a guy more than capable of playing shortstop and also bringing some offensive value. And our guys like his actions, our guys like how the arm plays, and they think the body’s going to fill out and get stronger.”
Bae, currently working at Pirate City, will start out the low minors this season. His main focus for now, he said, is to get to know his fellow teammates from around the world. When asked if he was studying English, he responded, “Yeah.”
“Spanish better than English,” Bae said. “[My teammates] teach me Spanish. ¿Como estas? ¿Bien?”
The Pirates are hoping that Bae will be muy bien indeed.
Elizabeth Bloom: ebloom@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1750 and Twitter: @BloomPG.
First Published: March 27, 2018, 11:05 p.m.
