Bae Bae-hwan scores first goal with ‘top 2%’ speed…but team falls short

Bae Ji-hwan (Pittsburgh Pirates) hasn’t lost his quick feet since returning from injury.

Bae started at first base and went 1-for-4 at the plate in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) opener against the Atlanta Braves at Truiste Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 11. His batting average remained at .245 (69-for-282) for the season.

He didn’t have many hits, but his quick feet stood out. After a grounder to the pitcher in the first inning and a fly ball to left field in the third, Bae singled up the middle in his third at-bat in the top of the sixth. It extended his hitting streak to five games, dating back to June 6 against the Milwaukee Brewers. His previous longest hitting streak this season was six games, from May 18 against the Detroit Tigers to May 27 against the Seattle Mariners.

Then he saved the day. Bae sprinted home when the next batter, Brian Reynolds, hit a double to right field. Atlanta tried to catch him with a quick replay, but his feet were first. Bae slid into home plate, avoided the catcher’s tag, and scored. Pittsburgh scored another run on Zack Swinski’s double to make it 2-0.

Bae’s speed, which earned him a 70 out of 80 rating as a prospect, hasn’t slowed down at the big league level. His sprint speed of 29.8 feet per second ranks in the top 2% of the big leagues and 13th in all of MLB, according to Baseball Servant.바카라사이트

But Atlanta, which leads the entire MLB, had more firepower. Atlanta rallied from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead in the seventh on a Ronald Acuña Jr. double. With the bases loaded, Matt Olson followed with a two-run single to right to widen the gap.

Pittsburgh was unable to add to its lead as starter Luis Ortiz pitched five and one-third innings of three-hit ball with three strikeouts and one run, but the bullpen collapsed. In the seventh inning, Colin Selby started the ‘Arson’, giving up four runs on three hits and one walk.