What should I do with Bae Jihwan who's out of his eyes? PIT Shelton's reappointment, "'Next year's rebuilding will be in full swing.'"

Sep 12, 2024

Pittsburgh Pirates Bae Ji-hwan has virtually lost credibility in Major League Baseball this season. AFP Yonhap News

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton was reappointed. AP Yonhap News

The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to re-sign coach Derek Shelton, whose contract expires after this season.

Pittsburgh's general manager Ben Sherrington said on the 12th (Korea Standard Time) that `Shelton is the one who should lead this team next year.' `I think he does a lot of things really well. I believe we will do our best to develop the team in various ways."

Pittsburgh extended Shelton's contract in April last year. The contract period was not disclosed at the time, but local media speculated that the contract with him, whose contract ends in 2023, was extended by one year. In the end, the club seems to have decided to extend the contract for another year this season.

Shelton, who took the helm of Pittsburgh after the end of the 2019 season, was expected to be difficult to renew his contract at the time as he had a winning rate of less than 40% for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, but the club signed an extension contract in early 2023 by sending trust as the right person for rebuilding.

Pittsburgh recovered a winning percentage of 40% for the first time in four years with 76 wins and 86 losses last year, and is marking 69 wins and 76 losses (0.476) as of the 11th this season. Until early August, the race was aimed at the postseason, maintaining a winning rate of around 500, but since then, it has fallen to the bottom of the NL Central, where competition for rankings is fierce due to frequent consecutive losses, and now it seems to be wrapping up the season.

Shelton said "We've built a much better performance than the last two seasons when it comes to the starting lineup. It's definitely better than before, it's deeper. In terms of attack, it is necessary to continue rebuilding. Debs needs to go deeper, too", he said, indicating his intention to continue 'rebuilding'.

Polskins is a key player in Pittsburgh's mound rebuilding. AFP Yonhap News Agency,

Pittsburgh is considered the strongest in the league as far as the starting lineup. The center is the Young Gun Fireballer, who is likely to win the NL Rookie of the Year this year. Skins is 10-2 with a 2.10 ERA, 151 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.99 with a fastball over 100 miles. In addition to Skins, young starters in their 20s are solid, including existing Mitch Keller (11-9, 3.85), Bailey Poulter (7-7, 4.45), and Jared Jones (6-7, 3.82). Pittsburgh's starting ERA is 3.81, seventh among the 30 teams.

Unlike Shelton, Pittsburgh has decided to reorganize the coaching staff below. In particular, hitting coach Andy Haines is unlikely to renew his contract. "The season is coming to a close, and we will have an opportunity to look at the overall coaching staff and make a decision," Sherrington said. If change is needed to get better opportunities, it must be in line with the rapid development and the flow of a lot of development", he explained.

Pittsburgh is in urgent need of reinforcing its batters, ranking 23rd in the team batting average (0.235), 26th in the team OPS (0.674), and 19th in the team scoring (4.24).

As the Pittsburgh club trusts Shelton and suggests a major change in the batting part, attention is being paid to whether Bae Ji-hwan will also be able to make a turning point. However, Bae Ji-hwan did not have any expectations this year, playing in 29 games in the Major League, with a batting average of 0.189 (14 hits in 74 at-bats), six RBIs, 11 points, six steals, and an OPS of 0.463 without a home run. The prevailing evaluation is that Bae Ji-hwan has not fully taken advantage of the opportunities given in the last two years.

Bae Ji-hwan has been hitting hard with a batting average of 0.343 and an OPS of 0.920 in Triple-A this season, but it has been a long time since he has been out of Shelton's eyes.