Ji-hwan Bae

Ji-hwan Bae (배지환)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Kyeongbuk High School
• Debut September 23, 2022

• Born July 26, 1999 in Daegu South Korea

BR page

Biographical Information

Ji-hwan Bae made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates late in the 2022 season, going 11 for 33 with 3 doubles in 10 games. He played both the infield and the outfield, with 5 games in centerfield, 1 in left field and 4 at second base. The Pirates had signed Bae for $1.25 million in March 2018. He had been signed by the Atlanta Braves previously but was made a free agent as part of Major League Baseball's punishment for Atlanta's violations of international signing rules which cost GM John Coppolella his job.

Just as the 2019 minor league season was starting, on April 17th, he was suspended for 30 games by Minor League Baseball for violating its domestic violence policy. The previous October, he had been found guilty by a South Korean court of assaulting his then-girlfriend at a New Year's Eve party.

He started the 2023 season with the Pirates, seeing time at both second base and in the outfield. On April 11th, he hit the first walk-off homer of his career, a three-run shot off Ryan Pressly to give the Bucs a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros as the team was off to a surprisingly good start. In that game, teammate Ji-Man Choi had also homered earlier, making it the first instance in major league history that two Korean-born teammates had homered in the same game.

Further Reading

• Justice delos Santos: "Bae, Choi make Korean baseball history with an MLB first", mlb.com, April 12, 2023. [1]
• Sam Dykstra: "Pirates' Bae suspended 30 games: Infield prospect punished for violating domestic violence policy", MiLB.com, April 17, 2019. [2]

Related Sites

• Ji Hwan Bae on mlb.com