The final entry hint captured at the Sangmu practice game. And selection for the Taiwan-Cuba match. I'm still thinking about the pitcher entry. Ryu Joong-il's choice is
Nov 06, 2024
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The Korean baseball team had a practice game with Sangmu at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 6th. The day was held behind closed doors with no spectators and no broadcasts. The national team, which will leave for Taiwan on the 8th, has to decide on the final entry on the 7th, and the match against Sangmu on the 6th was the last test.
Ryu Joong-il, the head coach of the national team, will discuss with the coaching staff after the business match against Sangmu and inform the KBO of the final entry. It will be announced tomorrow morning (7th)." Currently, 34 players are training together in the national team, and the final entry is 28. Four pitchers, one catcher, and one fielder have to be left out. Kim Young-woong is likely to be excluded from the fielders because he cannot play on the day due to his bad shoulder.
All the national team fielders participated in the practice game. Not only the national team but also its opponent, Sangmu, participated in the lineup. It could be seen as a measure to enhance the condition of the national team players while maintaining their sense of play.
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A total of 14 players participated in the national team only as starters. The only players who failed to start were catcher Han Jun-su and infielder Kim Young-woong. One of the three catchers, Park Dong-won and Kim Hyung-joon and Han Jun-su, should be excluded, but Park Dong-won is the main player, so he has to choose one between Kim Hyung-joon and Han Jun-su. Kim Hyung-joon played as the main player at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, and is a right-handed hitter who is defensive and has a long shot, and Han Jun-su is a left-handed hitter who hits well. Han Jun-su played instead of Park Dong-won in the defense at the top of the seventh inning, but given that Kim Hyung-joon came out as a starter in Sangmu, there is a high possibility that Kim Hyung-joon will be selected. In the end, the 14 starters on the day are likely to be the final entry for fielders.
Ryu's real concern is the mound. Ko Young-pyo was selected for the national team, and Kwak Bin was selected for Sangmu. They were scheduled to throw three innings each. Manager Ryu said, `Ko Young-pyo and Kwak Bin will throw three innings each and then bullpen pitchers will throw one inning each.'
Ryu said he had decided on the selection of the first match against Taiwan (13th) and the second match against Cuba (14th), adding that he had not decided on Japan (15th) and the Dominican Republic (16th). According to the date, Ko Young-pyo and Kwak Bin, the starters, are likely to play against Taiwan and Cuba, and the pitchers thrown at practice games in Taiwan are likely to be the starters who will play against Japan and the Dominican Republic later.
Manager Ryu said he was worried about deciding on a pitcher entry. "It depends on who you see it," he said, suggesting that there is a disagreement in the coaching staff.
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Since then, bullpen pitchers from both the national team and Sangmu have pitched one inning each. The national team took the mound in the fourth inning of Lim Chan-kyu, who has replaced Won Tae-in, and blocked Lee Young-ha (one inning, one hit, one strikeout, one strikeout, one score), So Hyung-joon (one inning, no hit, two strikeouts), Kim Seo-hyun (one inning, one hit, two strikeouts), Cho Byung-hyun (one inning, one hit, two strikeouts) and Park Young-hyun (one inning, one hit, two strikeouts, one inning, two strikeouts) continued to block the team with no score.
In Sangmu, after Kwak Bin went down, national team pitchers continued to take the mound and tested their sense of practice. From the bottom of the fourth inning, Yoo Young-chan (1 inning, 1 hit, 1 strikeout, no run), Kwak Do-gyu (1 inning, no hit, 1 strikeout, no run), Kim Taek-yeon (1 inning, no hit, 2 strikeouts, 1 inning, no run), Choi Ji-min (1 inning, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts), Jeon Sang-hyun (1 inning, no hit, 1 strikeout, no run) continued.
With four out of 18 pitchers to be excluded, the only pitchers who did not throw on the day were Um Sang-baek and Choi Seung-yong, the starters, and Kim Si-hoon and Cho Min-seok, who joined later.
Kim Si-hoon and Cho Min-seok were initially joined in case it was not easy for existing pitchers to join, or when they were injured or in poor condition, so it is highly likely that they will not be selected for the final entry in the current situation. For coach Ryu, eliminating the other two would be a big concern.
Coach Ryu said in an interview after the game that `four pitchers had to be left out, but before the interview, Cho Gye-hyun, chairman of the Korea Power Reinforcement Committee, also had a meeting. When asked what criteria to apply, the pitcher said, `I'm worried until the end.' You can't play ball. You have to have good fastball pitches and you have to be able to catch strikes with breaking balls"
indyk@sportschosun.com
