A number of local media outlets in the U.S. criticized the “speed star” Bae Ji-hwan (24, Pittsburgh Pirates) for failing to properly utilize his strengths.먹튀검증
On the 24th (Korean time), the American media, The Athletic, highlighted Bae Ji-hwan’s base run miss, saying, “Pittsburgh lost to the Texas Rangers because of a big mistake by young players who surpassed veteran starting pitcher Rich Hill.”
The situation was like this. On this day, Bae Ji-hwan started as the 8th and 2nd baseman in the game against Texas held at the home stadium and recorded 2 hits in 3 at-bats. However, in both cases, the meaning faded due to poor base play. For the first hit in the third inning, Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi was checked and he was out on first base. In the eighth, he misjudged Andrew McCutchen’s batted ball and died on second base on his way to third base.
Local reactions to this are also one color of criticism. The Pittsburgh local media Post-Gazette said, “Bae Ji-hwan was too reckless,” and MLB.com, the official major league website, said, “Bae Ji-hwan was sitting in the dugout right after the loss, covering his head with both hands and crouching down. Two mistakes in running base. I must have been thinking of it,” he said, picking it as the defeat of the day.
After the game, Bae Ji-hwan explained, “I thought I had to go to third base because it was two outs. But I misread the batted ball and ended up being out.” In response, Pittsburgh coach Derek Selton said, “If I decided to run to third base, I had to run as it was.” There is no need. Bae Ji-hwan’s quick feet are (our team’s) real weapon, but if we use them carelessly, we can’t use them (when necessary).
Bae Ji-hwan (right) is being forced out at second base./AFPBBNews=News 1
Bae Ji-hwan (right) is being tagged at second base./AFPBBNews=News 1
This is not the first time Bae Ji-hwan’s unfortunate base play. He made 11 of 12 stolen base attempts from March to April, but has only made 3 of 7 attempts so far in May. It was because the opposing team recognized Bae Ji-hwan’s quick feet and began to check him in earnest. Because of this, Bae Ji-hwan’s number of stolen bases in the season has not increased from 14 to the end of the game against Toronto on May 6th.
According to sabermetrics, stealing often loses its value if the success rate does not exceed 75%. Bae Ji-hwan’s stealing success rate is 73.6%, and if the current situation continues, it would be better not to run.
His run value also comes out as not being able to use his quick feet enough. According to Statcast, Bae Ji-hwan’s sprint speed, or top speed, is 29.5 feet (about 9 meters) per second, which is the main power of the top 4% of the major leagues. In terms of the speed at which he gets to first base at home, he is by far the first with 4.05 seconds.
Freddie Freeman (right) has a successful home rush. /AFPBBNews=News1
However, if you look at the base run value calculated by Fan Graph, an American baseball statistics media, it is only 34th in the major leagues with 1.8 points. This is lower than the 2.2 of Freddy Freeman (34, LA Dodgers), who is currently recording 6 stolen bases (1 failure). Freeman’s top speed is 26.3 feet (about 8 meters) per second, which is in the bottom 30% of all players. Compared to Bae Ji-hwan, he is slow, but the 2020 National League MVP is helping the team with his clever running base play.
Bae Ji-hwan has ample room for improvement as he is still only a young player in his second year of debut in the big leagues. Coach Shelton wrapped up his students, saying, “If it’s wrong, just teach it, and we don’t want that to happen again in the future.”
Bae Ji-hwan also said, “When our team is losing, I want to help my teammates. I know that I went a little too far.” It seems to differentiate,” he promised.