Bae Ji-hwan of the Pittsburgh Pirates left early for the U.S. to join the Major Leaguers full-time. Bae will leave for LA on Tuesday afternoon to prepare for the 2024 season. After training in LA, he will head to Bradenton, Florida, where his team's spring camp will take place in February.
"We decided to leave the country early to have outdoor training in a warm place," Bae said. "Former player Heo Il is a university coach in LA, and I plan to have outdoor training there. I have a lot of things I want to do in terms of my swing and batting when I meet Kang Jung-ho and Heo Il," Bae said, explaining the reason for leaving the country early.
Just like Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos who became the batting champion for the first time in the KBO League after taking lessons from Kang last year, attention is focusing on whether he will be able to secure the starting lineup of his team after being taught by Kang. MLB also mentioned Bae as a candidate for starting second baseman, and he said that in order to achieve that, he should grow further in batting performance. Bae also knew the importance of batting performance. "As long as I am not a catcher at second base, center field or any position, I think I should have offensive capability in the Major League," Bae said. "I had many chances last year because I am a rookie. That does not work this year. I think I need to develop myself to secure my position in various fields as offense and defense."
Having shown more improvement by playing in 111 games last year, Bae had a batting average of 231 (77 hits in 334 times at bat), two homers, 32 RBIs, 54 runs scored, and 23 steals. As he was out for about six weeks due to a sprained left ankle in July, he failed to continue his good sense in the early stages. That's why his goal for this season is to play full-time without any injuries. When asked about his specific goals for this season, Bae said, "I think the priority is not to get hurt. I don't want to be on the injured list. Rather than the number of games he played in, I want to see the results of his performance while staying on the active roster all year."
I will also pay attention to managing my physical stamina to participate in the full-time event. "In the beginning of last season, my uniform was tight, but at the end of the season, my uniform was loose. I will manage my weight and physical stamina well this year, and I will make an effort to match my original maximum performance at the end of this season," he said.
Having married and started a family earlier this month, Bae left for the U.S. with his wife, expressing his sense of responsibility as a breadwinner. "I used to run thinking only about myself, but now I have to look further and feed my children," Bae said. "I think I'm more desperate. I have more people to take responsibility, and that will be reflected in my performance in the stadium."
Lee Jung-hoo welcomed the increase in the number of Korean Major Leaguers as San Francisco Giants and Ko Woo-suk joined the San Diego Padres. "It's so nice to see Japanese players as there are not many Asian players," Bae Ji-hwan said, expressing his expectation that "I'm so glad to see more Korean players. I want to play together in the Major League."
BY: 토토