Pirates recall utilityman after scorching start in Triple-A

The Pirates announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned righty Ryder Ryan to Triple-A in his place. Noah Wiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported Bae’s looming promotion. It’s the third straight season with some MLB time for Bae, but this time around he’ll be looking to carve out some staying power on the heels of a big start to his season in the International League.

Through his first 122 plate appearances of the season, Bae has turned in a ridiculous .367/.479/.551 batting line — about 72% better than league-average production, by measure of wRC+. He’s clearly earned himself a look in the majors, though there’s ample reason to take those rate stats with a grain of salt. For instance, Bae has been set down on strikes in 28% of his plate appearances so far. Were it not for a comically high .525 average on balls in play, his slash line wouldn’t look nearly so strong. Fans should temper their expectations, gaudy Triple-A stats notwithstanding.

That said, there are also some encouraging signs. Bae is drawing walks at a mammoth 17.2% clip through his first 27 Triple-A games. He’s popped four homers after only hitting three in 120 games (MLB and Triple-A combined) last season. He’s 7-for-10 in stolen bases as well, showing the speed that helped him swipe 24 bags for the Bucs just last season. At the very least, he’s deserving of an opportunity to try to show he’s better than 2023’s .231/.296/.311 slash in 371 big league plate appearances.

Bae has experience at second base and in the outfield, but the latter seems a likelier landing spot. The Pirates only recently called up second baseman Nick Gonzales in another effort to spark a tepid offense, and he’s already ripped a couple of homers while posting a solid enough .265/.297/.471 line in 38 turns at the plate.

One option for the Bucs would be to displace struggling first baseman Rowdy Tellez, pushing right fielder Connor Joe to first base in place. Tellez has managed only a .181/.250/.233 line in 128 plate appearances since signing a one-year, $3.2M deal over the winter. Meanwhile, Joe — who’s played 750 big league innings at first base — has mashed at a .280/.350/.476 pace. With six long balls, he’s already more than halfway to his 2023 total (11) in just one-third the playing time.

Jason Mackey of the Post-Gazette took a look at Tellez’s significant struggles yesterday, noting that players like Bae and minor league signee Jake Lamb (.342/.438/.514 in 137 Triple-A plate appearances) have earned a look with their play thus far. Mackey speculated in an appearance on 93.7 FM The Fan in Pittsburgh this morning that a move involving Tellez could be nigh, though he’s since more concretely reported that Tellez is expected to hang onto his roster spot for now and to be in uniform for tonight’s contest.

Assistant general manager Steve Sanders appeared on The Fan this weekend as well, touching on Lamb’s success in Indianapolis and whether the club might be tempted to make a move (link via Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Sanders sidestepped, calling Lamb “an incredible professional on and off the field” as well as “one of the toughest outs in the minor leagues right now.” Sanders praised Lamb’s leadership and work with young Pirates prospects in Triple-A but wouldn’t commit to a promotion in the near future, only stating: “It gives us a really good feeling knowing we have a quality bat there.”

Pittsburgh has received strong offensive output from the aforementioned Joe, from Bryan Reynolds and  from catcher Joey Bart, in addition to a handful of roughly league-average batting lines (Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, Edward Olivares). They’ve also seen 2023 breakout slugger Jack Suwinski struggle tremendously, however, while top catching prospect Henry Davis has already been optioned to Indianapolis in an effort to get back on track at the plate. Opening Day second baseman Jared Triolo has hit just .212/.297/.265 and could see his playing time dry up once Ke’Bryan Hayes is ready to return at third base. Triolo has shifted to the hot corner for now to cover for the injured Hayes and in deference to Gonzales.

Currently, Pittsburgh is tied with Oakland for the third-fewest runs in the majors (180). Pirates hitters collectively rank 27th in batting average (.226), 26th in on-base percentage (.301) and 28th in slugging percentage (.353). At 24.7%, they have the game’s sixth-highest strikeout rate, although to their credit, the 9.4% team walk rate is also tied for fifth-highest in MLB. For now, they’ll hope that the recent additions of Gonzales and now Bae can be a catalyst for better run production, but more significant changes likely loom on the horizon if the lineup continues to sputter.