It finally exploded' Bae Ji-hwan's 'hit + score + walk' is pulsing in just two at-bats! Will the 'big league opening roster' survive

*This content was translated by AI.

Bae Ji-hwan (27) of the New York Mets made a hit and scored in an exhibition game to demonstrate his strength to survive in the big league.

Bae Ji-hwan played as a substitute for the Washington Nationals and 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) exhibition game at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida on the 1st (Korea time) and scored 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 point in 1 at-bats.

Bae Ji-hwan's performance in this year's exhibition games was .200 (2 hits in 10 at-bats) with a double, one walk, three strikeouts, and an on-base percentage of 0.273, a slugging percentage of 0.300, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.573 in five games.

Bae Ji-hwan was put in as a center fielder's logarithm in the top of the seventh inning when the Mets were trailing 0-3. And Bae Ji-hwan, who entered the batter's box as the first batter in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bae Ji-hwan hit a 91.4-mile (about 147.1km) sinker on the second pitch from the ball count 1-0 against the opponent's left-hander, Richard Lovelady, and recorded a left-handed hit.

Bae Ji-hwan, who succeeded in getting on base, even scored with a shrewd base play. Bae Ji-hwan, who took second base and settled on third when Antonio Jimenez had a hit to center field, scored his team's first run on the day with Nick Morabito's timely double to right field.

Bae Ji-hwan entered the batter's box once more in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning with the Mets trailing by a score of 2-3, Bae Ji-hwan drew a straight walk against PJ Pauline, the opponent team's left-hander. The Mets continued their chance to load the bases due to the opponent's second baseman's mistake during the subsequent Jimenez at-bat. However, Jacob Reimer stepped down with a fly ball to center field and failed to score additional points.

Meanwhile, Bae Ji-hwan made his big league debut in 2022 after starting his minor league career in 2018. In the 2022 season, he played in 10 games and posted a batting average of 0.333 (11 hits in 33 at-bats) with three doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored, and three steals with an OPS of 0.829. Bae Ji-hwan, who has fast feet and outstanding utility skills, played 111 games, the most in the 2023 season. In that year, he had a batting average of 0.231 (77 hits in 334 at-bats), two homers and two doubles, two triples, 32 RBIs, 54 runs and 24 steals (nine failed) with an on-base percentage of 0.296, a slugging percentage of 0.311, and an OPS of 0.607.

However, the opportunity to play in the 2024 season has begun to decrease sharply again. He was injured twice and failed to get on the right track. While playing 29 games in the 2024 season, he had a batting average of 0.247 (14 hits in 74 at-bats) with two doubles, six RBIs and 11 runs, and a six-base hit ratio of 0.247 with a slugging ratio of 0.216 OPS of 0.463.

He got off to a good start to the 2025 season. The exhibition game ended with an outstanding performance of 0.381 (16 hits in 42 at-bats), six homers and two doubles, four RBIs and 13 runs, three walks, nine strikeouts and three steals (2 failures) with an on-base percentage of 0.595 and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.017. He ranked first in the number of points scored in the exhibition game team. Based on this strong performance, he was included in the opening roster and got the opportunity to prove his presence again.

However, he rarely settled down between the major leagues and the minor leagues. Not long after the opening, he was notified of his trip to the minor leagues in early April. Then, as soon as Pittsburgh replaced coach Derek Shelton in early May due to poor performance and promoted bench coach Don Kelly to coach, he was called up and took the opportunity. After playing for about a week after playing with a lot of tenacity, he went back to the minor leagues. Playing on the Triple-A stage, he was called to the big leagues in September, but after only about a week, he headed to the minor leagues.

His big league performance in the 2025 season was 0.381 (16 hits in 42 at-bats) with a batting average of 0.381 (16 hits in 20 games), six doubles, 13 runs in four RBIs, nine strikeouts on three walks, a on-base percentage of 0.422, a slugging percentage of 0.595 and an OPS of 1.017. Bae Ji-hwan, who was eventually notified of his release in November after the end of the season. The team that reached out to him was the Mets. Bae Ji-hwan, who became a Korean Mets player for the first time in 18 years since Park Chan-ho, the "Korean Express" who wore a Mets uniform in the 2007 season, will he be able to make his name on the opening roster of the Major League based on his stellar performance in this exhibition game.

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*This content was translated by AI.