The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bae Ji-hwan Bae made a pinch-hit appearance against the Texas Rangers on April 25, a day after he was caught stealing two bases.
Pittsburgh dropped a 3-2 decision in the nightcap of a three-game series against Texas at PNC Park. Bae entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 2-3, as a pinch-hitter for Carlos Santana, who singled with one out. He then popped out to center field in the top of the ninth. There was no chance for Bae to bat in the bottom of the ninth as the final offense ended in a triple play.
As for why Bae was left out of the starting lineup, left-hander Martin Perez started the game for Texas. Perez went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits to earn his sixth win of the season. He is considered Texas’ lefty ace. With Jacob deGrom injured right now, he’s the number one starter.안전놀이터
With a lefty starting, it’s unlikely that the team is resting lefty Bae Ji-Hwan.
Bae has started seven games this season when the opposing starter is a lefty. He’s batted .324 (12-for-37) against lefties, better than he has against righties (.239). Perez also has a very weak .400 wOBA against lefties this season, with two hits in the previous game.
In other words, this was a warning shot from the bench for being thrown out on base twice the day before.
Bae singled to left field in the third inning and pinch-hit in the eighth against Texas on April 24, but was thrown out at first and second base, respectively, which put a damper on the team’s rally.
“Those learning moments cost Pittsburgh a chance to knock off opposing starter Nathan Eovaldi,” MLB.com noted, “Bae has failed in four of his five stolen base attempts in recent weeks and was stranded on base six times on the day, including twice in the leadoff spot.
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said after the game: “It’s a mistake that stings right now, but it’s a learning process, and you have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” “If I decided to go to third base, I should have gone there without slowing down. (Right fielder) Garcia was throwing to second base. I should have kept running to third.”
“I need to be a little less greedy. I think he’s in a bit of a hurry right now. I see a lot of young guys with that kind of speed and they try to do something without really understanding the situation and make mistakes. I think Bae Ji-hwan is getting too greedy right now.” “He has a really good weapon, but if he uses it recklessly, he’ll only get more outs. He shouldn’t do that.”
Bae acknowledged Shelton’s point. “It was a two-out situation, so I decided to go to third base, but I didn’t really recognize the situation. “I saw the scoring situation, we were behind, and I wanted to help the team, so I got greedy,” he said.
“The most important task now is to understand the game situation and decide when to play and when not to play,” Bae said.
While Bae recognizes exactly what went wrong, it’s likely that his aggressive baserunning will be curtailed in the future.