“This tournament shows how important selection is in the game of baseball.”
The first champion was eliminated, and South Korean baseball team coach Ryu Jong-yi felt this again.
When coach Liu Zhongyi was building the 2024 WBSC Premiere12 roster, the most distressing part was the starting lineup. Because we can no longer see the ace players who lead the national teams such as Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles), Kim Gwang-hyun (SSG Landers), and Yang 현-jung (KIA Tigers) like in the past.
Of course it’s not impossible. We have high hopes for Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions) who showed crazy performance in the international competition. Won Tae-in played 159.2 innings in 28 games this season and achieved a record of 15 wins and 6 losses. Since Yang Zhongzhong in 2017, he and Guo Bin (Doosan Bears) once again topped the local win list after 7 years. However, in the fourth game of the Korean round-robin tournament, he pitched with shoulder discomfort and was diagnosed with a snail injury in his right shoulder joint and was excluded from the team. Replaced by Im Chan Kyu.
Before Won Tae-in was absent due to injury, Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha Eagles) was also absent. Although this season’s record is only 7 wins and 7 losses, with an average ERA of 5.17, he scored no points in 6 games in the finals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, announcing the birth of an ace. At the end of the season, he was excluded from the training list due to pain in his right shoulder.
In addition, Son Ju-young, who became LG’s starting lineup this season, has not been able to enter the national team. In this year’s 28 regular season games, he achieved 9 wins, 10 losses, 1 hold and an average ERA of 3.79, achieving the most outstanding results among young left-handed pitchers. But an elbow muscle injury was discovered after the playoffs. Park Se-woong (Lotte Giants) was also excluded due to his basic military training schedule.
After careful consideration, coach Ryu Jong-yi formed the starting lineup with Ko Young-pyo (KT Wiz), Guo Bin, Choi Seung-yong (Doosan), and Lim Chan-kyu (LG). It was initially expected that Uhm Sang-baek (Hanwha) would be selected, but was eventually excluded from the list.
The lack of ace players who have been absent since the first game is a big sigh. Ko Yong-pyo, the most trusted ace pitcher, started in the first game against Taiwan, but was hit by a bases-loaded home run and a two-run home run in the second inning, resulting in six runs in two innings.
In the second game against Cuba, Guo Bin got rid of his phobia of top-level competitions and launched 5 good pitches without strikeouts and no runs in 4 innings. However, due to the influence of blisters on his fingers, he was unable to complete 5 innings. . In the third game against the Japanese team, Choi Seung-yong tried his best to replace senior left-handed pitchers such as Koo Tae-sung, Kim Kwang-hyun, and Bong Jung-geun, but he was substituted before completing two games.
Although it was hoped that the starting pitchers could last at least five innings, the pitching failed to achieve the expected results, causing the overload phenomenon of the relief pitchers to become more serious. Kwak Do-gyu (KIA) also experienced three consecutive shots in an international competition for the first time since entering the professional league. Lim Can-kyu, who started the game in the fourth game, also ended the game regretfully, losing 3 points in 3 games.
Coach Ryu Chung-yi said, “The players will be tired if they play frequently. This tournament seems to be a game that shows how important starting pitchers are in baseball.” “Under the 144-game KBO league system, there are 6 and 7 pitchers.” A team with a starting pitcher can hold on well in the middle of the summer and ultimately win.”
After the third game against Japan, coach Ryu Zhongyi said: “The issue that needs to be solved in the future is to develop more starting pitchers.”
[台北(台湾)=MK体育记者李正源]
