Pirates Recap: Ji Hwan Bae Continues to Make Push

Ji Hwan Bae continued to make a push to be included on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Opening Day roster when camp breaks next week.

The 25-year-old collected two more hits, both of which were doubles, scored a run, tallied an RBI and drew a walk in the Pirates’ 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Bae, who manned center field, got the Pirates on the board in the top of the third inning on a double to left field to plate Henry Davis. He later scored in the inning on an Adam Frazier groundout to second base.

It’s been quite a spring for the speedy Bae, who upped his batting line to .444/.474/.694 through 17 games. In addition to leading the club in batting average, he leads in hits (16 for 36) and doubles (six). Bae also has a home run, four RBIs and three stolen bases.

It was a subpar 2024 campaign for Bae, who twice landed on the injured list. But the native of South Korea frankly can not be playing any better this spring.

Another Start for Heaney

Andrew Heaney made another start for the Pirates in the game. While it went better than much of what he’s shown, the outing still left some to be desired.

The veteran left-hander went 4.1 innings and was charged with three runs. Of the six hits he surrendered, two went for home runs. Heaney struck out a pair of batters, and most encouragingly, didn’t walk any.

Heaney’s importance to the Pirates grew in wake of an injury to fellow starter Jared Jones, who will miss his final start of spring training before the start of the regular season.

Notable Pirates’ Performances

• Ji Hwan Bae: 2 for 3, two doubles, one RBI, one run, one walk
• Henry Davis: 2 for 3, one run
• Jack Suwinski: 2 for 4
• Tommy Pham: 1 for 4, one triple
• Andrew Heaney: 4.1 innings, six hits, three runs, no walks, two strikeouts
• Tim Mayza: 1.0 inning, three hits, two runs, two strikeouts

The Pirates (14-11) are off on Thursday and will travel to Fort Myers for a Friday night matchup against the Boston Red Sox at 6:05 ET.