‘Selection baseball failure’ Three of the four starters that Japan was wary of were missing… If there had been, would it have advanced to the semifinals?

[OSEN=도쿄, 지형준 기자] The Korean baseball team unfortunately lost to their archrival Japan in a close game in the 10th inning of overtime. Although they missed out on a victory, it was a competition that confirmed the future of Korean baseball. The Korean baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, lost 3-4 in the final match against Japan in the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 19th after a shootout in the 10th inning. In the shootout, they scored 1 run in the top of the 10th inning thanks to a timely hit from Dong-hee Yoon, but lost 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th inning. After the game, Lee Ui-ri, Won Tae-in, Kwak Bin, and Moon Dong-ju, who were selected as starters for this tournament, are taking a commemorative photo. 2023.11.19 / jpnews.osen.co.kr

[OSEN=조형래 기자] Korean baseball once again had to face its history of shame. However, in the process of generational change, they struggled under adverse circumstances and limited conditions. There are no ifs in history, but I wonder what it would have been like if it had been ‘complete’.

Korean baseball, which had been strong in the Premier 12, including winning the inaugural tournament in 2015 and finishing as runner-up in the second tournament in 2019, experienced the bitter taste of being eliminated in the opening round in the third tournament. On the 17th, Korea was confirmed to be eliminated from the opening round of the ‘World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12’. There was no game for Korea on this day, but Taiwan defeated Australia 11-3 and Japan defeated Cuba 7-6, confirming Korea’s elimination regardless of the results of the remaining games.

If Korea wins the final match against Australia on the 18th and Taiwan loses to Cuba, the score will be 3 wins and 2 losses. However, when a team with the same score comes out, it is pushed out by Taiwan in the winner-win, which is the highest priority decision method. Korea cannot rank higher than Taiwan. Japan and Taiwan advanced to the Super Round held at Tokyo Dome in Japan.

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] Ryu Joong-il, who prided himself on having a better atmosphere than any other national team, suffered a shock loss in the first match of the Premier 12 Group B group stage. The Korean national baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, lost 3-6 in the first game against Taiwan in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 Group B group stage held at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan on the 13th. The national team, including Korea’s Ko Young-pyo, is regretting the loss. 2024.11.13 /sunday@osen.co.kr

In fact, it was said that the Korean national team in this tournament will continue the trend of generational change in the process of preparing for the 2026 World Baseball Classic and the 2028 LA Olympics. Even so, it was evaluated as the weakest national team. In the process of forming the team, many players who should have been named to the national team dropped out due to injuries.

In particular, the departure of the starting pitching staff was serious. After winning the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) last year, Japan national team coach Hirokazu Ibata selected four young Korean pitchers: Kwak Bin (25, Doosan), Won Tae-in (24, Samsung), Lee Ui-ri (22, KIA), and Moon Dong-ju. (21, Hanwha) were all on guard.

At the time, Coach Ibata said, “We won the two games against Korea, but I think it was a very small difference. It wasn’t surprising even if Korea won both games. “We had a lot to learn,” he said. “The pitchers had good pitch control, and they threw breaking balls even in unfavorable ball counts.” All four starting pitchers threw over 150 km/h. “With four such young and great starters, I think Korea will be scary in the future,” he said.

[OSEN=도쿄, 지형준 기자] The 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) national team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, played its first game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on the afternoon of the 16th. South Korea’s Moon Dong-ju is fighting back in the top of the first inning with one out and one on first base. 2023.11.16 / jpnews.osen.co.kr

[OSEN=도쿄, 지형준 기자] The 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) national team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, played against Japan at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the afternoon of the 17th. With no outs in the top of the first inning, South Korea’s starting pitcher Lee Ui-ri allows a walk to Japan’s Okabayashi. 2023.11.17 / jpnews.osen.co.kr

However, three out of four people failed in this competition. Won Tae-in was diagnosed with right shoulder labrum damage and rotator cuff tendinitis after pitching in Game 4 of the Korean Series. The opinion was that rehabilitation would take about 4 to 6 weeks. Of course, the national team failed.

Before that, Lee Ui-ri suffered from elbow pain this year and underwent surgery to joint the elbow ligaments and remove bone fragments at the same time last June, putting him out of the season after pitching only 4 games. Since it is possible to return around April or May next year, the national team was naturally an unknown.

But even Moon Dong-ju was left out. Moon Dong-ju was also tired. Dong-ju Moon is the fastest pitcher in the Korean starting lineup, but he ended his season early due to fatigue in his right shoulder in early September. At the beginning of this season, he was unable to perform at 100% as he complained of shoulder blade pain. Moon Dong-ju’s workload increased as he handled both the Asian Games and the APBC tournament last year. In the end, the Premier 12 national team was not selected.

[OSEN=도쿄, 지형준 기자] The 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) national team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, played against Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on the afternoon of the 18th. Won Tae-in of Korea is fighting back in the top of the first inning. 2023.11.18 / jpnews.osen.co.kr

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] On the afternoon of the 14th, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 2024 Group B second match between Korea and Cuba was held at Tien Mu Baseball Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan. Korea selected Kwak Bin as the starting pitcher for the second match, and Cuba selected Livan Moinello.1 South Korea’s starting pitcher Kwak Bin is struggling. 2024.11.14 /sunday@osen.co.kr

The starting pitchers with the best pitches in Korea and the pitchers that Japan was most wary of failed. Of the four players mentioned by Japanese coach Ibata, Kwak Bin was the only player to participate in this tournament. Coach Ryu Joong-il, the national team staff, and the KBO Strengthening Committee had to find new starting pitchers and were also worried. In the end, the pitchers selected as starters for this tournament were Kwak Bin, Ko Young-pyo (33, KT), Choi Seung-yong (23, Doosan), and Lim Chan-gyu (32, LG).

However, the reality I had feared turned out to be very accurate. Except for Kwak Bin, who started against Cuba on the 14th, and pitched 4 innings with 3 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, and no runs, all pitchers were judged early and the content was not good. In particular, in the first game on the 13th, which had to be the first button, Go Young-pyo, the starting pitcher against Chinese Taipei, suffered a shocking early defeat by allowing 5 hits (2 home runs), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 6 runs in 2 innings, including allowing both bases loaded and 2 runs in the 2nd inning. Korea lost 3-6 to Chinese Taipei, and it ended up being a decisive game that forced them to fail to advance to the super round.

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] Ryu Joong-il, who prided himself on having a better atmosphere than any other national team, suffered a shock loss in the first match of the Premier 12 Group B group stage. The Korean national baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, lost 3-6 in the first game against Taiwan in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 Group B group stage held at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan on the 13th. The national team, including Korea’s Ko Young-pyo, is regretting the loss. 2024.11.13 /sunday@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] On the afternoon of the 15th, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 2024 Group B match between Korea and Japan was held at the Taipei Dome in Taiwan. Korea selected Choi Seung-yong and Japan selected Hiroto Takahashi as the starting pitchers for the third game. In the bottom of the first inning, Korea’s Choi Seung-yong made a comeback. I’m doing it. 2024.11.15 /sunday@osen.co.kr

Left-hander Choi Seung-yong, who was used as a secret weapon in the Korea-Japan match on the 15th, was also kicked out early with 4 hits, no walks, 1 strikeout, and 2 runs in 1⅔ innings, and Lim Chan-gyu, who was the starter for the game against the Dominican Republic on the 16th, also pitched 3 innings, allowing 5 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 3 runs. I recorded it and came down. Both Choi Seung-yong and Lim Chan-gyu were substitutes for existing players and failed to show a turnaround on the international stage.

Although Kwak Bin also pitched well, he did not complete 5 innings. The four starting pitchers pitched 11⅔ innings. The average was less than 3 innings per game. They said the bullpen was strong, but as they played day after day in an international competition where the tension and pressure were higher than usual, the bullpen’s fatigue was bound to accumulate.

In addition to the four starting players, the Premier 12 tournament had no choice but to have a full force due to injuries and various variables. In the batting lineup, No. 4 hitter Noh Si-hwan was removed from the national team due to an injury, and players from the national team’s reserve list, including Tae-in Won and Ja-wook Koo, Ji-chan Kim, and Young-woong Kim from Samsung, dropped out of the national team due to major or minor injuries. In addition, Kim Hye-seong and Kang Baek-ho were unable to participate in the national team due to their special military service basic military training schedule.

The Premier 12 tournament faced many adverse events. The result of being eliminated does not change and is not an excuse. Nonetheless, it is clear that this is a tournament that will inevitably leave some regrets.

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] On the afternoon of the 16th, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 2024 Group B match between Korea and the Dominican Republic was held at Tienmu Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan. South Korea selected Lim Chan-gyu as the starting pitcher for the fourth game, and the Dominican Republic selected Franklin Kilome. South Korea’s Lim Chan-gyu, who allowed a two-run home run to Alcantara of the Dominican Republic with no outs in the top of the fourth inning, is coming down the mound. 2024.11.16 /sunday@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=타이베이(대만), 이대선 기자] I can’t give up on going to Tokyo like this. Ryu Joong-il, who faced the ‘difficult enemy’ Dominican Republic, took the lead in the promised 8th inning and achieved a huge comeback victory, overturning a 6-run deficit. The Korean national baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, achieved a 9-6 comeback victory in the 4th game of the Group B preliminary round against the Dominican Republic in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 held at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan on the 16th. After the game, Korea coach Ryu Joong-il is greeting the spectators. 2024.11.16 /sunday@osen.co.kr

/jhrae@osen.co.kr

How did the Korean team’s morale fluctuate after their elimination from the tournament, and were there particular losses or pivotal moments ‌that‌ significantly impacted their emotional state?

1. What were some of‍ the key challenges faced ⁣by the Korean team during the WBSC Premier 12 2024 tournament, especially in terms of pitching and injuries to key players?

2. How did the​ elimination from the tournament impact ⁤the team ⁢and their morale? Were there any specific losses or ⁣moments that stand out as particularly difficult?

3. ⁤In light ⁤of these challenges,⁣ what does the Korean team need to do to improve for future competitions and ‍achieve their goals of qualifying for the Olympics and World Baseball Classic?

4. What role did⁤ coach Ryu Joong-il⁣ play in leading the team through⁣ these⁤ challenges, and what were some of the strategies he employed to help the⁣ team persevere?

5. Looking‌ at the overall performance of the team, what are some areas where they excelled and where do⁤ they need to focus on improving for future ⁤success?