ATLANTA — Sift through stories authored by Pirates players this season, and it’s possible nobody has been busier than Ji Hwan Bae. Sandwiched around a left-ankle sprain, Bae has enjoyed extremely good stretches and also periods of play where his inexperience was obvious.
On the bases, at the plate, or in the field, Bae has been a walking conundrum. Is he a blazing-fast future center fielder who can hold down the leadoff spot, play elite defense, and challenge for the MLB lead in steals?
Or does he get poor jumps and take inefficient routes? What about his contact rate, strikeouts, and making too many outs on the bases?
Here’s guessing it’s the first player, based on how much Bae has seemingly learned this season.
The question intrigued me in Atlanta, so I took it to both Bae and manager Derek Shelton: Where has Bae grown the most this season?
“Baserunning,” Bae said.
OK, how?
“Running at the right times and making the right decisions,” Bae said.
Picking those times has been multifaceted. As the season has evolved, Bae has been more judicious. Maybe Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds are due up; they’re hot, and the pitcher has a good move to first. Best to hang tight.
Or perhaps the catcher throws well, and the pitcher throws mostly hard stuff, shortening the time it’ll take the ball to get to second base. Again, not the time.
In March/April, only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) had more steals than Bae (11). Yet by mid-May, Bae was thrown out four times in five tries over a 12-game stretch and made a couple more outs on the bases when he grew recklessly aggressive.
“I’ve been trying to calm down and read the situation better,” Bae said at the time. “They’ll show me when I make a mistake and say, ‘This way’s better.’ I know they’re trying to make me a better player.”
There’s undoubtedly an energy to Bae’s game. The Pirates are 24-11 when he scores a run this season. Furthermore, Bae’s 22 steals were also the most for a Pirates rookie since Andrew McCutchen had that many in 2009.
More importantly, though, Bae has been better about knowing when to go, as he’s been successful on eight of 10 tries since that miserable stretch.
Meanwhile, Bae’s approach at the plate has been noticeably better, his front leg kick shortened, and the contact coming more consistently. Early this season, Bae too often sold out for power. The result was striking out too frequently for someone with his skill set.
But over the course of the season, in addition to the Pirates helping Bae shorten his kick, they’re also emphasizing better pitch selection and keeping his bat in the zone for longer.
Bae has still struggled against breaking stuff (.173 average, 36.2% whiff rate), but his strikeout rate has dropped by nearly 5% since returning from the ankle injury. He has hits in 10 of 11 games, batting .295 (13 for 44) with three doubles, a triple, and four RBIs.
Bae could get away with a larger kick in the minor leagues because he wasn’t seeing as much velocity, but the adjustment has helped Bae stay more balanced and in control of his body.
“It’s a unique swing, so just making sure we try to keep him in the bat path or zone as long as possible,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s one of the things the major league game will show you because there’s so much more velocity, and the action of the pitches is better here.”
A pleasant surprise for Bae has been his ability to go left-on-left; he’s actually hitting .281 against them compared to a mark of .228 against right-handed pitchers.
There’s obviously plenty of work to do, too.
Bae’s strikeout rate (23.3%) ranks in the 39th percentile throughout MLB, his walk rate (7.8%) in the 44th. Those need to be better. Ditto for his whiff (23.7%, 58th percentile) and chase (30.9%, 35th) rates, which don’t square with a contact-first approach. But the overall improvement has still been hard to deny.
“I want some more extra-base hits,” Bae said. “But right now, it’s about contact.”
The last prong of this takes us to Shelton’s response when I asked where he’s seen Bae develop the most this season: defense. And it’s seemingly been more outfield than at second base.
As a relatively new center fielder, Bae relied primarily on his speed and athleticism early on. His breaks were often late, his routes to balls inexact. Having a quicker and more direct first step has been the part Bae has felt changed the most.
It’s something that he has worked to refine through repetition, seeing so many balls off the bat and reacting, as well as various drill work that he’s done with outfield coach Tarrik Brock. After making six errors in his first 28 games, Bae had just three in his last 65.
“His breaks and reads continue to get better,” Shelton said.
The whole package does, really.
And it should be seen as a positive development for the Pirates, who could either deploy Bae as a second leadoff man behind Oneil Cruz (a little like the Braves do with Michael Harris II) or give Cruz, Hayes, and Reynolds more RBI opportunities by dropping them behind Bae.
Assuming, of course, that he gets on base enough and continues his overall ascent.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG
First Published: September 11, 2023, 3:06 p.m.
Updated: September 11, 2023, 4:28 p.m.
