Pirates Roster Battle: Jack Suwinski or Ji Hwan Bae?

Opening Day is one week away. Next Thursday, Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates will face the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park for their first regular season game of 2025.

Much of what the initial roster will look like is already settled. The cornerstones such as Skenes, Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen and the other usual suspects already have their place. But a couple position battles are still ongoing.

Who’s on first isn’t just a comedy skit. The Pirates are still debating what player, or players, will fill in for the injured Spencer Horwitz. Joey Bart’s backup is still TBD, there’s an open spot in the bullpen and very well could be one in the starting rotation in wake of the Jared Jones injury news.

Additionally, there’s a bench role up for grabs that looks like it’s coming down to two players, both of whom are coming off down seasons but are having terrific spring trainings.

Jack Suwinski’s 2024 seasons was as disastrous as it could have been. After leading the Pirates in both home runs (26) and OPS (.793) in 2023, he was stuck in prolonged slump last season.

Suwinski hit just .182 with a .264 on-base percentage and a .324 slug across 88 games. He also hit only nine home runs and drove in 26 runs. He was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on July 29 only to not return the rest of the season.

Ji Hwan Bae, meanwhile, played in 29 games with the Pirates and slashed .189/.247/.216 with two doubles, no home runs, six RBIs and six steals. Bae also missed about three weeks with a wrist sprain in June.

But it’s been a much different story for both players this spring. And yes, it’s only spring training, but it’s hard to ignore what both players have done.

Bae leads the Pirates in batting with a .444 average to go along with a .474 on-base percentage and a .694 slug. He also leads the team with 16 hits, six doubles and 12 runs scored.

Suwinski carries a strong .371/.425/.600 batting line with five doubles, a home run, nine RBIs and three stolen bases in 12 games.

Both players are worthy of a roster spot based off of what they’ve done this spring, but looking at how the roster projects to be constructed, only one might break camp with the team. The good news, for the Pirates anyway, is that both players are able to be optioned to the minor leagues without risk.

So the Pirates will have to decide what they value more. Suwinski offers much more power than Bae and has shown the ability to get on base with a healthy 12% walk rate in his career. However, Suwinski has a career .207 batting average, strikes out far too much and grades as a poor defender.

Bae’s best tool is his speed. His sprint speed is among the league’s best. He also provides the Pirates with more versatility than Suwinski since he can play second base in addition to the outfield. But Bae’s speed on the basepaths only matters if he can reach first base, something he hasn’t done enough of in his major-league career.

The decision between the two players is coming down to the wire. One will be rewarded for what he’s done this spring. The other will be disappointed but will try and continue his spring success to the start of the season in Indianapolis.

If it was my decision, I’d probably lean Suwinski since he offers more at the plate. But it would be tough to option Bae given his performance in the Grapefruit League.