In the first game of the final against the Taiwan team, coach Ryu Chung-yi chose Ko Young-pyo (KT Wiz).
On the 12th (Korean time), at the “2024 WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) Super 12” official press conference held at the De Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei in Taipei City, Taiwan, coach Ryu Chung-yi, who leads the Korean baseball team, officially announced that Ko Young-pyo will Started in the first match against Taiwan in Group B qualifiers.
Coach Ryu Chung-yi said, “I think the swings of the Taiwan team’s batters should not be good against low-handed pitchers. The combat effectiveness analysis team thinks the same way,” and “we only have four starters.” Ko Young-pyo With this in mind, we decided to start the game against Taiwan.”
Ko Young-pyo has suffered injuries and poor form this season, with 6 wins and 8 losses in 18 games, with an ERA of 4.95, but he is a pitcher with stable ball control. Apart from this season, he has been the most consistent player in the league over the past 3 years.
Ko Young-pyo, who shines as a starting pitcher starting from the 2021 season, has 11 wins, 6 losses and 1 shutout in 26 games in the 2021 season, with an ERA of 2.92, and 13 wins in 28 games in the 2022 season. 8 losses, average ERA of 3.26, and achieved 12 wins, 7 losses, average ERA of 2.78 in 28 games in the 2023 season. From 2021 to 2023, he has achieved double-digit starter wins for three consecutive years. During this period, he has a WAR of 15.87 and a QS (3 or less earned runs in 6 starts) 63 times, ranking first in each field. Became a pitcher representing the KBO league.
Therefore, after the end of last season, the KT team signed a non-FA multi-year contract with Ko Young-pyo for five years totaling 10.7 billion won (9.5 billion won guaranteed, 1.2 billion won options). Treatment given to the best players.
“Ryu Jung-yi”, who aims to enter the Tokyo Dome, dreams of entering the Super Cycle with the second place in the group on the premise that Japan has the strongest combat effectiveness. We must seize Taiwan, our enemy. Gao Rongpyo has a heavy burden on his shoulders.
Ko Young-pyo said before leaving the country for Taiwan: “In the past, Taiwanese batters were weak in side-shoulder pitching change-ups. If I participate in the competition, I will use my own advantages to pitch. Because the pitches of middle and junior pitchers It’s good, so even if I throw a short game, I want to give up at least one run. “I feel very at ease. “
However, the results in international competitions were not ideal. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he had one loss in two games and an ERA of 5.86. In the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he averaged 5.40 ERA in one game. In the second warm-up match against Cuba before the Taiwanese team went abroad, he came on as a relief pitcher and allowed one hit (one home run), no dead balls, and two strikeouts in one inning. 1 point loss.
In addition, according to KBO, the Korean team has a record of 26 wins and 16 losses against the Taiwan team, which is in the lead. But in the last 5 games, the South Korean team fell behind its opponents with 2 wins and 3 losses. After losing 1-2 to their opponents in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, losing 0-7 to their opponents in the 2019 Super 12 Round, and losing 0-4 to their opponents in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games qualifiers, they won 2-0 in the Hangzhou Asian Games finals, Won 6-1 in the 2023 APBC qualifiers.
Coach Liu Zhongyi said: “The recent results against the Taiwan team have not been very good. The replacement of old and new players has been carried out since the Asian Games last year. In order to prepare for the 2026 WBC and 2028 LA Olympics, young players were selected. They are doing well now. I hope the young players We can play well.”
# 2024 WBSC Premier12 Korean Qualifiers Schedule (Korean time)
VS Taipei Arena, Taiwan, November 13, 7:30 pm
VS Cuba Tianmao Baseball Stadium at 7:00 pm on November 14th
VS Japan Taipei Dome at 7:00 pm on November 15th
November 16, 7:30 pm VS Dominican Republic Tianwu Baseball Stadium
VS Australia Tianmu Baseball Stadium at 1:00 pm on November 18th
[台北(台湾)=MK体育记者李正源]
