The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bae Ji-hwan (24) is sprinting toward the base like a moth to a flame.
MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB), highlighted Bae’s baserunning on Friday.
“Bae knows he has a weapon – fast feet – but he’s learning it’s not enough. He also needs to know how to use his speed.”
On April 24, Bae went 2-for-3 with a double against the Texas Rangers at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but he also made a couple of bad plays at the plate.
Once, he was thrown out at first base, and the other time, he was thrown out at second base on an overthrow on the next batter’s hit.
Bae ran to second and then to third, then hustled back to second, but the ball had gotten to the base first and was waiting for him.
“It’s going to sting right now, but you have to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said.
“Once you start running toward third base, you can’t slow down. He should have kept running all the way to third base.”
After the game, Bae hung his head in the locker room and reflected on the overrun, saying, “It was two outs, so I thought I had to go to third, but I didn’t read the situation correctly, so I was out.”
It’s not just errors on the basepaths. Excessive stealing greed is also on the chopping block.
This season, Bae attempted to steal 14 bases, but was thrown out five times.
The former Major League Baseball stolen base leader hasn’t stolen a base since May 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
His five failed steals are the most in the majors this season.
“He needs to slow down a little bit,” Shelton said. He’s trying to go too fast right now. “His speed is a real weapon, but if you don’t use it, you’re only going to get outs,” said Shelton, adding that young players with quick feet try to create opportunities rather than wait for them.먹튀검증
“I think I overdid it a little bit because I wanted to help the team when we were losing the game,” Bae reflected. “My biggest challenge now is to read the game situation and know when to use my quick feet and when not to use them.”
Bae was left out of the starting lineup against Texas on Aug. 25, but came in as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning.
In the ninth inning, he played defense in center field as his team lost 2-3 with no one in the batting order.