Bae Ji-hwan (24), who plays for the안전놀이터 Pittsburgh Pirates of the American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), has been selected as a promising prospect who is likely to be included in the 2023 season opening roster (26 players).
On the 18th (Korean time), the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB.com) announced that it selected and announced one prospect with a high possibility of entering the opening roster for each of the 30 MLB clubs. In Pittsburgh, Bae Ji-hwan was named. The media specified Bae Ji-hwan’s position as a utility.
MLB.com said, “Bae Ji-hwan can serve as second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder. As a utility player, he has the upper hand in competition within the team,” he said. “Bae Ji-hwan showed impressive performance in his MLB debut season. Pittsburgh could use his speed.”
Bae Ji-hwan, who moved to the United States in 2018, went through minor league single A (A) to triple A (AAA) evenly. Last year he had a .289 batting average with eight homers and 53 RBIs in 108 games at Triple-A. He was called up to the MLB this season and played in 10 games, batting average of 0.333 and 6 RBIs.