Ji Hwan Bae

25-Year-Old OutfielderOF

Pittsburgh Pirates AAA

2025 Stats

AVG

.091

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Bae's 2024 season was derailed by hip and wrist injuries that kept him sidelined for significant portions of the first half of the campaign. By that time, a combination of Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo had established themselves as the primary contributors at second base in Pittsburgh, causing Bae to see the majority of his plate appearances in the minors. Gonzales likely did enough to establish him as the starter at the position to begin the 2025 season, while Oneil Cruz's shift to center field closed Bae's obvious paths to playing time. If he does find plate appearances, the skills evaluation for Bae is fairly straightforward. He has excellent speed and is capable of racking up stolen bases quickly, though the rest of his skills profile is mostly empty. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

From Preseason

#362

ADP

League AAA

Bats L

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 5'11"

Weight 169

DOB 7/26/1999

Born Daegu, South Korea

College None

Drafted 2018 PIT

Headed back to Triple-A

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

May 16, 2025

The Pirates optioned Bae to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday.

ANALYSIS
The move makes room on the 26-man roster for Nick Solak, whose contract was selected by the Pirates. Bae appeared in five games for Pittsburgh after being recalled May 9 and went 1-for-7 with two stolen bases and three runs scored over that span. He could return to the majors should the Pirates require outfield depth.

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Batting Stats

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2025

2024

2023

2022

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2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2023

+1%

OPS vs RHP

2025

-100%

OPS vs RHP

2024

+68%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+1%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.570	123	17	0	8	7	.254	.289	.281
Since 2023vs Right	.574	341	51	2	30	25	.207	.282	.292
2025vs Left	.000	3	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
2025vs Right	.347	9	3	0	0	1	.125	.222	.125
2024vs Left	.286	7	0	0	0	0	.143	.143	.143
2024vs Right	.481	74	11	0	6	6	.194	.257	.224
2023vs Left	.604	113	17	0	8	6	.269	.306	.298
2023vs Right	.609	258	37	2	24	18	.213	.292	.317

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2023

+5%

OPS on Road

2025

-100%

OPS on Road

2024

+3%

OPS on Road

2023

+6%

OPS on Road

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023Home	.557	220	33	1	22	18	.205	.280	.277
Since 2023Away	.587	244	35	1	16	14	.232	.288	.299
2025Home	.000	1	1	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000
2025Away	.282	11	2	0	0	0	.100	.182	.100
2024Home	.456	46	7	0	5	3	.171	.261	.195
2024Away	.471	35	4	0	1	3	.212	.229	.242
2023Home	.587	173	25	1	17	13	.216	.287	.301
2023Away	.625	198	29	1	15	11	.243	.305	.320

Minor League Left/Right Batting Splits (AAA)

Since 2023

+45%

OPS vs RHP

2025

+56%

OPS vs LHP

2024

+148%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+60%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.663	114	1	7	.240	.351	.313
Since 2023vs Right	.962	325	8	41	.347	.435	.527
2025vs Left	.783	26	0	0	.409	12.038	.500
2025vs Right	.503	82	1	6	.205	24.000	.329
2024vs Left	.378	75	1	7	.175	21.013	.238
2024vs Right	.937	217	6	34	.399	104.000	.596
2023vs Left	.566	13	0	0	.273	5.000	.364
2023vs Right	.903	26	1	1	.381	13.000	.619

Stat Review

How does Ji Hwan Bae compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.20

BB Rate

8.3%

K Rate

41.7%

BABIP

.167

ISO

.000

AVG

.091

OBP

.167

SLG

.091

OPS

.258

wOBA

.132

Exit Velocity

89.4 mph

Hard Hit Rate

16.7%

Barrels/PA

8.3%

Expected BA

.137

Expected SLG

.385

Sprint Speed

27.0 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

20.0%

Line Drive %

0.0%

Fly Ball %

80.0%

Prospect Rankings History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2020

Bae began the 2023 season as a regular in the Pirates' lineup by serving in a strong-side platoon role, albeit split between second base and center field. Even after missing one and a half months with an ankle injury, Bae ended the season with 24 stolen bases - a useful haul even in the new offensive environment in which steals are more prevalent. From there, however, there's little positive to point to. Bae posted just a .081 ISO and had a putrid barrel rate of 2.0 percent and an average launch angle of 1.1 degrees. It would still be possible to salvage that profile with strong plate discipline, yet Bae struck out at nearly a 25 percent clip which to a .296 on-base percentage. Not a strong defensive second baseman (-6 DRS), Bae's future role in Pittsburgh is unclear heading into 2024 as he'll be competing with Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales and Jack Suwinski for playing time, all of whom are almost certain to prioritized ahead of him. For fantasy purposes, he's best suited as a streaming option for stolen bases in most formats.

Bae has been a relatively highly regarded prospect since signing with the Pirates in 2018. He showed the peak of his potential in 2022 with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he displayed a consistent ability to both make contact (16.9 K%) and get on base (.362). Most intriguing skill, however, is his stolen base upside. Bae has stolen double-digit bags at every level of the minors, including when he posted 30 on 38 attempts in 2022. That combination of skills also earned Bae a brief promotion to Pittsburgh to close the 2022 season. It's not prudent to draw conclusions from a 37-plate appearance sample, but Bae remained aggressive on the basepaths by swiping three bases without getting caught. While coming through the organization, Bae played every defensive position except for right field and catcher. On a rebuilding Pittsburgh squad, he should get all the run he can handle in 2023.

The Pirates signed Bae out of South Korea in early 2018 for $1.3 million and between the lines, his full-season debut was a success. He was suspended for 30 games early in the season for assaulting his girlfriend. Bae went on to win the Sally League batting title. While he logged a .417 BABIP, his 80-grade speed, 51.2 GB% and 40.9 Oppo% supports a high BABIP, particularly against Low-A defenders. His speed and 11.3 BB% are what really stand out for fantasy. He could steal 30-plus bases while leading off if he hits his ceiling. If he falls a little short of his offensive ceiling, he could be a No. 8 hitter or relegated to a utility role. Bae's fringe-average arm may force a move to second base, but he has all the other tools to handle shortstop. We can safely say he won't ever be a power threat. Concerns about his character and makeup are valid.

More Fantasy News

Promoted Friday

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

May 9, 2025

The Pirates recalled Bae from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday.

ANALYSIS
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Demoted to Triple-A

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

April 3, 2025

The Pirates optioned Bae to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

ANALYSIS
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Checks back into spring lineup

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

March 4, 2025

Bae (hand) will start in left field and bat leadoff in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox.

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Dealing with minor hand issue

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

Hand

March 2, 2025

Bae suffered a hand injury during Sunday's spring game against the Tigers, but manager Derek Shelton downplayed the injury, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

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Heading to minors

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

August 27, 2024

Bae was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.comreports.

ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors

Set to rejoin big club

OFPittsburgh Pirates AAA

May 9, 2025

Bae has a locker in the Pirates clubhouse ahead of Friday's game versus Atlanta, reports Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com.

ANALYSIS
The 25-year-old was demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis in early April after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in two games for the Pirates to begin the season. Bae has a .258 batting average with six steals and an 11:22 BB:K through 23 games at Triple-A this season. Pittsburgh fired manager Chris Shelton on Thursday, so Bae could have a cleaner slate under interim manager Don Kelly, who was previously serving as the bench coach.

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