The first starting pitcher for the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team is Ko Young-pyo (32, KT Wiz).
The KBO announced on the 8th, “Ko Young-pyo will start as a starting pitcher against Australia on the 9th.” After contemplating the starting pitcher for the first round (Group B) match against Australia to be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan, Koh Young-pyo was the final choice.
Coach Lee hired all pitchers except Koh Young-pyo for the official evaluation match against the Orix Buffaloes and the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), which were played at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka on the 6th and 7th. Some speculated that coach Lee had Ko Young-pyo in mind as the starting pitcher for the match against Australia, but coach Lee pondered over who to start the next day before submitting to the tournament organizing committee at 9:00 pm on the 8th.
In a practice match against the SSG Landers Futures (2nd team) team held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 3rd, Ko Young-pyo showed off his good condition with 3 innings, 4 strikeouts and no runs. At that time, while dealing with 13 batters, he was also very good at pitching, giving up only one walk without a hit.
In the 2014 rookie draft, Ko Young-pyo, who wore a KT uniform with the 10th overall pick in the 2nd first round, appeared in 203 games, recording 43 wins and 43 losses and an ERA of 4.25. After fluttering with 11 wins and 6 losses and an ERA of 2.92 in 2021, he played an active role with 13 wins and 8 losses and an ERA of 3.26 the following year and was reborn as KT’s true ace. The changeup, which is considered the best breaking ball in the KBO League, had a large share. Coach Lee expects Koh Young-pyo’s changeup to be effective against Australian batters.먹튀검증
The national team has been focusing on the first game of the tournament, the Australia match. Coach Lee judges that winning the game against Australia will be of great help in advancing to the US round (semi-finals and finals), the first goal. Depending on how efficient mound management is, led by Koh Young-pyo, in the match against Australia, future matches in Japan, the Czech Republic, and China are expected to have a significant impact.
Coach Lee said, “I have to save pitchers in the game against Australia so I can put everything into the match between Korea and Japan that will take place the very next day (the 10th).” However, more than ever, director Lee and the coaching staff’s management skills are needed. In this tournament, the number of pitches per round is limited to 65. In this regard, it may be advantageous to appoint Koh Young-pyo, who pitched efficiently with 3.45 pitches per at-bat last year.