Correspondent Han Yong-seop] Koh Young-pyo, a submarine pitcher of the Korean World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, was in charge of starting the first game against Australia. Australia predicted a 22-year-old tall left-hander as a starting pitcher.
Korea will face off against Australia in the first round of Group B in the 2023 WBC Round 1 at 12:00 noon on the 9th at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Korea, which suffered a high defeat in the first round of the WBC tournament in 2013 and 2017, is aiming to pass the first round and reach the semifinals in this tournament.메이저사이트 In order to achieve the goal, the first game must be won.
Korea officially announced Ko Young-pyo as the starting pitcher for the match against Australia on the 9th. At an official press conference held at the Tokyo Dome on the morning of the 8th, national team coach Lee Kang-cheol said, “The starting pitcher for the game against Australia will be announced in the evening.” This is because, according to the WBC rules, the organizers of the tournament must be notified by 9:00 pm on the 8th.
The selection of Koh Young-pyo was expected early. Koh Young-pyo took the mound as a starting pitcher in a practice match against SSG Landers’ 2nd team held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 3rd, and pitched well with 3 innings, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts and no runs. He faced a total of 13 batters regardless of innings to throw enough pitches, giving up only one walk and getting 12 out counts.
While entering Tokyo via Osaka, Japan, he devoted himself to conditioning during the 5-day break. He was the only pitcher among 15 national team pitchers who did not pitch in the official evaluation match against Orix and Hanshin held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka on the 6th and 7th.
After a practice match against SSG on the 3rd, Ko Young-pyo was asked about his determination in case of going to the game against Australia, “I have to throw a lot of strikes and make good use of my strengths. I think it will work, and I will work with the mindset of blocking one hitter after another.”
Australia’s starting pitcher is left-hander Jack O’O’Clin. A young left-hander, he is a Detroit minor league pitcher. Having played in the minor leagues under Detroit since 2018, he recorded 2 wins and 1 loss with a 4.01 ERA in 27 games (6 starts) in High Single A last year. In the 2022-203 season, he started in 7 games as a member of Adelaide in the Australian Professional Baseball League and recorded an ERA of 3.27 without a win.
He is 196cm tall and has a tricky pitching form. At the official press conference on the 8th, O’Clin said, “I was very excited when I learned that I was going to start the Korean War. It will be a tough game, but I will do my best to show everything in the first game.”
He said he knows Korean hitters well. “Korea has been a strong team for a long time. I have seen Korean players for a long time and I know them well. Numbers 1 to 9 are all phenomenal players and must be respected. I can’t pick anyone in particular to be wary of,” said O’Clin. .
Both Korea and Australia are all-in strategies for the first game. Australian coach Dave Nielsen said, “All four games (group stage) are important. Especially the first game against Korea is the most important.” It will be, and I think it will be a close match,” he said. Regarding the selection of O’Clean as a starter, he expressed his belief, “It will be a very important moment for O’Clean. I look forward to seeing how he will throw it against Korea.”
Coach Lee Kang-cheol also mentioned the importance of the game against Australia. He showed determination, saying, “There is an evaluation that we are statistically superior in terms of power, but because we do not know baseball, we will work with the spirit of fighting the absolute strong.”
Regarding pitching management for the game against Australia, he said, “I thought that I would have to pitch a lot of innings with fewer pitchers to use in the past. “he explained.