Korean baseball, which was hit by Australia, which was rated one lower, made the chances of advancing to the quarterfinals slim. ‘Korean Express’ Park Chan-ho cited the lack of confidence of the national team players as the cause of the so-called Tokyo disaster.
The Korean baseball team, led by coach Lee Kang-cheol, is recording 1 win and 2 losses in the 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic) Round 1 Group B qualifiers being held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. After being hit 7-8 against Australia on the 9th, which was considered a watershed moment for advancing to the 8th grade, he met Japan on the 10th and narrowed the difference in skill with a 4-13 loss, and narrowly won his first victory with a 7-3 victory against the Czech Republic on the 12th. However, in order to advance to the quarterfinals, the number of miracles must occur on the 13th, the last day of the first round.
The most painful thing is hunting the mound. All top pitchers in the KBO league were selected except for An Woo-jin, who had a history of school violence, but Korea’s team’s average ERA remained at 8.31, 19th out of 20 participating countries. The only team ranked lower than Korea is China with a score of 9.78. The pitches of Kim Gwang-hyeon and Yang Hyeon-jong, who once led the heyday of Korean baseball, no longer work, and young pitchers such as Kim Won-joong, Jeong Cheol-won, Kwak Bin, and Soh Joon So-jun are also keenly aware that they were not frogs in the well.
What is the cause? KBS commentator Park Chan-ho said, “You can see that the juniors are trying their best, but you have to properly plan your routine before going up to the mound. If the plan is positive and comfortable, confidence builds up, but I was able to see pitchers who came up without confidence,” he said. “Our pitchers are avoiding batters from the beginning. I could see that each of them had a good ball, but they lacked confidence.” 먹튀검증
Pitchers who have to be responsible for long innings cited frequent mistakes as sluggish performances. Commissioner Park said, “In the case of Koh Young-pyo, he gets hit repeatedly by miscasting. In the game against Australia, there were many mistakes, so I was expecting a stable pitch in the match against the Czech Republic, but the fastball was driven to the center again.”
At bat, major league duo Kim Ha-seong and Tommy Edman and veterans Choi Jeong, Kim Hyun-soo, and Na Seong-beom are struggling. Edmon, Kim Ha-seong, Kim Hyun-soo, and Choi Jeong all have batting averages in the 10% range, and Na Seong-beom is the only batsman in the national team to have no hits. Regarding this, Commissioner Park pointed out the passive play and lack of confidence of the batters, saying, “Concentration comes from comfort, and that comfort comes from boldness.”
KBS commentator Park Yong-taek also said, “How nice it is to hit it comfortably. He mentioned the psychological part, saying, “If you hit it comfortably, you can get enough hits like this.” It’s too urgent. I can never overcome the ball with what I have now.”
Korea, which is recording 1 match and 2 losses, is about to play the final match of the first round against China at 7:00 pm on the 14th. Prior to this, in the match between the Czech Republic and Australia held at 12:00 p.m., if the Czech Republic defeated Australia by conceding more than 4 runs, and Korea defeated China shortly thereafter, it would be possible to miraculously advance to the quarterfinals.