What is the winning card to avenge the loss in the first round of WBC 2 in a row?

In all things, the beginning is important. There is a saying that you have to sew the first button well, and there is also a saying that taking the first step is the most difficult. It means you have to start well for everything to work out.

The same goes for the Korean baseball team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). The match against Australia, which will be played in the first leg of the first round of the finals on March 9, is the most important. National team coach Lee Kang-cheol has already emphasized this several times.

Korea has a painful memory in the first round of the WBC.

The 1st semifinal in 2006 and the 2nd runner-up in 2009 raised its prestige as ‘Korean baseball in the world’ to the fullest, but was eliminated in the 3rd in 2013 and the 4th in 2017 after finishing in 3rd place in the 1st round of the finals. .

The final blow was a shocking defeat to the Netherlands and Israel, which were evaluated as one step below, in the first game.

In 2013, after losing 0-5 to the Netherlands in the first match, they won 6-0 to Australia and 3-2 to Taiwan, recording 2 wins and 1 loss, but (scored ÷ attack innings) – (runs ÷ defense innings) In TQB (Team Quality Balance), which is calculated, it ranked third behind Taiwan and the Netherlands.

In 2017, after losing 1-2 to Israel, who passed the European qualifiers in the first round and reached the first round of the finals, and 0-5 to the Netherlands in the second match, they beat Taiwan 11-8, but Israel (3 wins) and the Netherlands (2 wins) 1 win and 1 loss) and stayed in 3rd place again. In particular, in 2017, he suffered a series of shocking defeats at Gocheok Dome, leaving painful memories with the ‘Gocheok Dome Disaster’.

In the 2023 WBC, we need to cut the first tape well without repeating this disaster.

Therefore, attention is focused on who will start in the first match against Australia.

Director Lee Kang-cheol has already announced that he will use veterans Kim Gwang-hyeon (SSG Landers) and Yang Hyeon-jong (KIA Tigers) at a decisive moment. It means that he will appear as a bullpen in a crisis rather than a starter.

In the future, the national team will gather together to train and look at their condition to decide the selection for the game against Australia, but in this case, there is a high possibility that it will be a young gun for now.

Among the young guns, Joon Sohn (kt Wiz) and Changmo Koo (NC Dinos) are the first to be counted.

Joon Sohn has a reputation as a big game pitcher.안전놀이터

From his rookie days when he became the rookie of the year in 2020, he started as a starter in the first game of the playoffs against Doosan and is also receiving strong trust from coach Kang-cheol Lee to the extent that he was dropped as a starter for the opening game of the 2021 season. He is good at inducing ground balls, but I am concerned that his breaking ball is somewhat less powerful compared to a fast ball.

There is no objection to the fact that Gu Chang-mo is a left-hander who can succeed Kim Gwang-hyeon and Yang Hyeon-jong. However, he needs to save it for the war against Japan.

The next alternative is Kim Won-joong (Lotte Giants).

Kim Won-joong, who wore the Taegeuk mark for the first time, is considered one of the best pitchers for the forkball, but he has not started as a starter since the KIA game on August 31, 2019. Most of the time, he came out as a finisher, and it is somehow burdensome to start the first game with the first Taegeuk mark.

However, the WBC is subject to a pitcher’s pitch limit and a rule that requires at least one day of rest if pitchers throw more than 30 pitches. And the maximum is 65 pitches. And if he throws 65 pitches, he can’t go out at all for four days. Considering this, it is possible to operate the mound with 5 to 6 players in short bursts of 1 or 2 rounds.

Until now, Korea and Australia have had few opportunities to face each other in international competitions.

It was the first time in the WBC that they had won 6-0 in the last 3 tournaments, and in the Olympics they had 1 win and 1 loss in two encounters. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, held as an exhibition game, Korea beat Australia 2-1, but lost to Australia 3-5 in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Qualifier, the first time a professional athlete participated in an Olympics.

In the overall record, Korea leads with 2 wins and 1 loss.

In terms of objective strength, Korea is ahead of Australia. However, it is by no means a team to be taken lightly. Just as the Netherlands or Israel were caught, Australia could be caught as well. Moreover, Australia has double-digit wins in the KBO League during the 2019-2020 season, and there are also subfolds who are familiar with Korean baseball.

Australian players are said to be weak against falling fork balls or manned balls. Instead, batters are said to be wary of home runs that can overturn the game at any time as they have a long hitting power, although they are somewhat inferior in detail and contact.