In order for Korean baseball, which has signaled a revival through a successful generational change
to join the world’s mainstream ranks again, it must first improve its skills and then compete against foreign teams frequently.
The Korean national baseball team, known as the adult A national team, suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the first round at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March 2023, causing great disappointment to fans. 안전놀이터
However, the Asian Games national team, which limited the age of key players to 25 years old, broke the expectation that it was the weakest team in history and achieved its fourth consecutive victory in the tournament, seizing the opportunity for Korean baseball to rebound.
Subsequently, at the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023, a competition for promising players from four Asian countries in which 24-year-old players participated
the national team took second place after two close games with Japan by one point, proving that the generational change is taking place smoothly.
Dong-ju Moon (Hanwha Eagles), Bin Kwak (Doosan Bears), Tae-in Won (Samsung Lions), and Eui-ri Lee (KIA Tigers), some of the best starting pitchers in the KBO League, threw their hopes up against Australia, Japan, and Taiwan.
Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) and Yoon Dong-hee (Lotte Giants) followed the Asian Games by hitting hard in the APBC,
revitalizing the Korean national baseball team that was suffering from a shortage of right-handed hitters.
The appearance of Kim Hyeong-jun (NC Dinos), an ‘international catcher’ who showed off his outstanding skills in leading the pitcher and blocking stolen bases, is very welcome.
The representative players all expressed their disappointment after losing 3-4 to Japan in the final on the 19th and finishing in second place
but expressed their determination to use the valuable experience of defeat as nourishment for development.
The sophisticated pitch control and breaking balls shown by Japanese pitchers of similar age clearly instilled in our pitchers and hitters the perception that this is a task that must be overcome.
Every year, with the start of spring camp on February 1st
there is also an order to prepare to improve your condition so that you can throw and hit right away.
At the post-game team meeting, national team coach Ryu Joong-il said that, like the Japanese players who prepare early for actual games based on their experience visiting the Japan Professional Baseball Softbank Hawks spring camp, our players should not waste the Stove League season.
Unlike the Major League Baseball and Japanese Professional Baseball systems, which clearly distinguish between players who have prepared well for the winter and players who have not prepared well for the winter by going into practice immediately at the start of spring training and treating them differently
the 10 Korean clubs are conducting a ‘slow-slow’ program due to conditions such as the climate. It is true that the ‘Start’ has been encouraged or overlooked.
The big goal of winning the domestic league is important, but from the perspective of nurturing representative players who can compete against the world
it is time to change not only the perception of individual players but also the spring camp training methods of professional teams.
The KBO Secretariat, which runs the national baseball team in international competitions in which professional players participate
announced last July that it would revive the national baseball team’s full-time manager system to raise the level of Korean baseball and push for regular evaluation games and exchange games with foreign teams.
However, there is no immediate schedule confirmed.
Four evaluation games are scheduled to be held in Seoul next March against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who are visiting Korea to play the 2024 Major League regular season games, and it has not yet been decided whether the professional team or the national team will play.
The KBO Secretariat is also planning an evaluation match to verify the skills of teams participating in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 to be held in November 2024.
During the regular season, it is difficult to hold evaluation games in the nature of national competitions due to the different schedules of each country
so the KBO secretariat is expected to focus on promoting evaluation games before and after the regular season to enhance the representative players’ experience in international competitions.