Stealing wins: Behind speedy Ji Hwan Bae, Pirates leading the majors in stolen bases

When asked about his skill at stealing bases, Ji Hwan Bae’s eyes light up and a smile flashes across his face.

The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie has been given the green light to go whenever he’s on base, and the 23-year-old South Korean speedster has no hesitation about swiping bags.

“If I see I can take it, I’m going to take it,” said Bae, whose 10 stolen bases in 23 games ranks fourth in the major leagues. “In the big leagues, I feel like that extra 90 feet is huge toward scoring.”

That aggressive attitude toward baserunning — the Pirates led the major leagues with 37 stolen bases entering Saturday’s split doubleheader at the Washington Nationals — is one reason why the Pirates (18-8) had the best record in the National League.

“I think Bae was pretty big in bringing that out of guys,” said Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who already has four stolen bases after recording seven last season. “Ever since he got up here, it’s like as soon as he’s on first, he’s going to steal second. Eventually he’s going to try to steal third. We’re all just building off that. It’s fun to watch from the dugout. It’s fun to watch on TV. It’s just a dynamic, athletic group.”

Another reason is how quickly the Pirates adapted to MLB rule changes, particularly the bigger bases that make the basepaths six inches shorter, disengagements that limit pitchers to two pickoff moves at first base and a pitch clock that keeps the pitcher’s attention focused on the batter.

“We thought we would have an advantage because a lot of our players are young and they had played within these guidelines, within these rules (in the minor leagues),” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It really hasn’t been that much of an adjustment for them. I can definitely see how that would play a part of it.”

Shelton’s staff was proactive by bringing former Double-A Altoona manager Kieran Mattison to the majors last September to share his experience with the rules. The promotions of shortstop Oneil Cruz and Bae, who plays second base and center field, brought a new dimension of speed to a team that stole 89 bases last season.

Where third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes (20 steals) and Cruz (10) accounted for a third of the Pirates’ steals last year, they already have six players with three or more stolen bases this season. The Pirates rank second in the majors in extra-base hit percentage (9%), and their stealth baserunning quickly puts runners in scoring position after singles.

The Pirates had a dozen stolen bases — Bae had five alone — in their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week, which showcased how they have used swiping bases to score runs.

On Tuesday, Tucupita Marcano singled and stole second, then scored on a single by Carlos Santana in the first inning. Bae singled and stole second, then scored on a double by Hayes in the second. Bae singled and stole second again in the fourth, scoring on a single by Mark Mathias.

On Wednesday, Bae singled, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jason Delay, then scored on a Reynolds single in the fifth inning. In the seventh, Rodolfo Castro and Bae hit back-to-back singles and executed a double steal, then both scored on Delay’s double.

“The biggest thing is we’re taking what the game gives us. When we have opportunity, we will,” said Pirates first-base coach Tarrik Brock, who doubles as their baserunning coach. “Our gameplan is to always take extra 90s any way we can, whether it’s balls in the dirt, stealing a base, tagging up on fly balls. We just encourage our guys to be SAT players — smart, athletic and tough.”

Bae has elite sprint speed of 29.5 mph, which ranks in the 98th percentile, and allows him to cover 90 feet in 3.76 seconds, per Statcast. But he scores high on the SAT because of his daily sitdowns with Brock, where they watch film and talk about the starting pitcher’s tendencies.

“He already knows what I see. In that moment, I want to know if he sees anything. If he does see anything, we just marry the two,” Brock said. “We have a good one-two punch. When you have a guy like that who does steal bases in the minor leagues, it’s an easy conversation. I tell him, ‘This is what we’re looking for.’ He sees it, confirms it and then we’re off and running.”

That has created chaos for opponents. What Bae has discovered is that because of the pitch-clock rule, pitchers are more focused on hitters and “sometimes sleeping on the runners.”

As a result, when base-stealing threats such as Bae are on, Pirates hitters are more likely to see more heaters. That was true when Delay saw three consecutive four-seam fastballs, then hit a slider inside for the two-run double in Wednesday’s 8-1 win over the Dodgers.

“When you’ve got a guy on base like Bae that’s going to steal at some point, as a pitcher you’d think they’d be more hesitant to throw a slider in the dirt or a curveball,” Reynolds said. “They may want to throw the fastball to try to throw him out, which will benefit the hitter because every hitter wants to hit the fastball. If we have a lineup full of guys that are doing that to the pitcher, it should help our offense.”

The Pirates are tied for first in triples (seven), rank sixth in doubles (52) and eighth in runs scored (132) despite ranking in the middle of the majors in home runs (14th, with 30).

The aggressive attitude toward baserunning has become contagious, as 14 Pirates players have stolen at least one base this season. Even 37-year-old first baseman Carlos Santana had a pair of steals this past week.

Santana stole second and scored an insurance run on Suwinski’s double in the eighth inning of last Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, then performed a double steal with Suwinski in the fourth inning Wednesday against the Dodgers.

“We try to do it for winning the game — that’s why it’s very important,” Santana said. “We’re running the bases a lot. We try to steal and we score. That’s why we play good baseball and win.”