Pirates rookie Ji Hwan Bae has Monster game with 1st career homer, spectacular catch

Ji Hwan Bae had a Monster night, one that left everyone in Boston green with envy.

The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie was the talk of Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox, thanks to a pair of amazing plays he made to bookend the 4-1 win. Bae hit his first career home run with an opposite-field blast over the Green Monster in the second inning and added a spectacular catch against Fenway Park’s famed wall in the eighth.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton raved about the all-around play of Bae, a 23-year-old South Korean whose combination of speed, power and a flair for the dramatic have been on display through the first five games and earned him a start in center field for Wednesday’s three-game series finale at Fenway.

“Offensively, defensively, on the bases, the plays he made defensively, the catch he made late,” Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “Overall, really nice game.”

Bae’s two-run homer almost didn’t happen. Canaan Smith-Njigba went down swinging for what should have been the third out of the second inning but took off running when he saw that the ball skipped off the shin guards of catcher Reese McGuire and beat the throw to first base.

Bae then barreled Nick Pivetta’s 1-1 fastball, sending it 359 feet and over the home run line atop Green Monster for a 2-1 lead. Bae said he was hoping for a homer, given that he doesn’t hit many. He had 16 in four seasons in the minor leagues, with seven coming at Double-A Altoona in 2021 and eight last year at Triple-A Indianapolis.

“When I saw the left fielder running towards it, I thought maybe he was going to catch it,” Bae said through translator Daniel Park. “But in my mind I was hoping that it was going to go over the line.”

The first home run of Ji Hwan Bae's big league career. ???? pic.twitter.com/p3sCaQfN9B

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 4, 2023

When the ball bounced off the top of the fence and back onto the playing field, the Pirates were able to retrieve it so Bae could save the memento. Given his penchant for losing things, he plans to send it back home.

“To get his first home run oppo at Fenway, that’s kind of a cool thing,” Shelton said. “It’s even cooler when the ball bounces back in play so you’re able to get it, and he was able to keep it.”

Bae is batting .214 (3 for 14) through the first four games, with a double, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored in the 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day.

Perhaps more impressive is the trust the Pirates have shown in switching Bae from second base to center field in late innings for his defense. A natural middle infielder, he played 29 games in center in the minors and started one for the Pirates last October.

This catch by Ji Hwan Bae left Devers SPEECHLESS! pic.twitter.com/CujRe9wn4P

— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2023

But Bae didn’t flinch when Alex Verdugo hit a leadoff low line drive with a 107.1 mph exit velocity directly to him in the eighth inning. Then Rafael Devers drove one to left-center that saw Bae make a leaping grab against the Green Monster for the second out.

“That was a great catch. Not having ever played center field at Fenway, it’s not easy,” Shelton said. “I don’t want to discount the first ball. The first ball was hit square on the nose. He broke down on a line drive right at center field. That’s a hard play to make, and he made it.”

Ji Hwan Bae caught this pic.twitter.com/XJCtkmUkCA

— Joe Block (@joe_block) April 5, 2023

Shelton credited the Pirates’ player development staff for its collaboration and communication in believing Bae could make a seamless shift to center field because of his speed and athleticism.

“We had talked about how well he moves out there,” Shelton said. “They had a lot of faith in him. … Our guys felt strong about that. When our guys feel strong about that something, it kind of permeates up here.”

Bae, for one, has no qualms with playing the outfield like some of his Pirates predecessors expressed when switching from playing on the infield dirt to the outfield grass.

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“I’m as comfortable as when as I am at second base,” Bae said.

And Bae wasn’t intimidated by 37-foot-2 left field wall, even when Devers delivered a 373-foot blast.

“The Green Monster, it’s a huge wall, I saw it coming but I just had to leave it to my instinct and I caught it,” Bae said. “I didn’t know it was going to go that way, so when I actually reached for the ball I was surprised myself, too.”

Bryan Reynolds, who shifted from center to left field in the eighth, was backing up Bae on the play and couldn’t have been more impressed with how he chased the ball or how he caught it.

“That was incredible,” Reynolds said. “And the one right before that, a little line drive right at him, he did that well. I don’t even know how he climbed the wall like that and made that catch. I was super fired up for him. He’s a good player all the way around.”