adminKwak Bin becomes a pillar of Doosan’s starting rotation with first 10 wins of his career
Moon Dong-joo, in his second year as a professional, becomes the first Korean pitcher to throw a 160-kilometer fastball
By Jang Hyun-koo Reporter = You can count on the mound, especially Kwak Bin (24-Dusan Bears) and Moon Dong-ju (19-Hanwha Eagles) to lead the charge.
The Korean baseball team, which will try to win its fourth consecutive title at the Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin next month, is composed of 24 players, including 21 who are 25 years old or younger or in their fourth year of professional competition and three “29 and under” wild cards.
Korea’s offense was dealt a blow when Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes), who won five batting titles in the KBO last year, injured his ankle and is on the operating table.
Kang Baek-ho (KT WIZ) is also in poor mental condition, leaving only Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) to provide some relief.
Noh leads the KBO in home runs (29) and RBIs (86) and has finally established himself as one of Korea’s top hitters five years after his professional debut, but he’s never played internationally as an adult, so we don’t know how he’ll fare at the Asian Games.
Unlike the shaky batting lineup, the pitching staff is full of young pitchers with Tokyo Olympics and World Baseball Classic (WBC) experience.
In particular, there are high hopes for Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju, two right-handed hard-throwing pitchers with fastballs. “The two pitchers hold the key to the Korean national team,” said a member of the national team.
Baseball is a pitcher’s game. In international competition, where there are fewer opponents, the pitcher’s presence is even greater.
Kwak Bin, who turned pro in 2018, went 10-6 with a 2.74 ERA this year, the first time in his career that he has won double-digit games in a season.
With a 150 mph fastball and a mix of curveballs, changeups, and sliders, Kwak-Bin joins Moon Dong-Joo and Ahn Woo-Jin (Kiwoom Heroes) as one of three KBO pitchers with fastballs topping 155 mph or more.
Along with Raul Alcantara (11 wins), he has formed the two pillars of Doosan’s starting staff and has become one of the best starting pitchers in both Doosan and professional baseball.
Moon made headlines in April of this year when he hit a 160.1-kilometer-per-hour fastball against the KIA Tigers’ Park Chan-ho. It was the first time a Korean player had thrown a fastball over 160 kilometers per hour since it was measured.
His slider and changeup also topped out at 149 kilometers per hour, well above the fastball velocity of most pitchers.
In his second year as a professional, Moon has successfully established himself in the KBO, going 8-8 with a 3.62 ERA while being protected by his club.
Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju are a duo that has caught the eye of national team manager Ryu Jung-il, who favors fastball pitchers.
These fireballers are enough to give Korean fans a sense of “we have pitchers like this” at the Asian Games after watching Japanese pitchers throw 150 kilometers per hour in the WBC in March.
The success of the Ryu-Joong-il campaign will depend on how the two pitchers fare against Japan and Chinese Taipei at the Asian Games, a trilateral competition between South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
While the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee and the Asian Baseball Confederation have yet to release the Asian Games groupings due to the size of the participating nations, it is likely that Korea and Chinese Taipei will be in the same group based on their WBSC world rankings.
Assuming Korea advances to the finals, they will most likely face Chinese Taipei in the group stage and Japan in the super round, which will be played between the first and second place finishers.
Given the final matchup of the first and second-place finishers in the Super Round, which is based on group standings, Korea will likely face either Japan or Chinese Taipei twice at the Asian Games.메이저사이트
Against Japan, a team with a lot of right-handed hitters, a left-handed pitcher will be used, while against Taiwan, a team with a lot of powerful right-handed hitters, a right-handed pitcher with a sharp changeup and fastball will be used.
The team selected Lee Yi-ri (KIA) and Koo Chang-mo (NC Dinos) as the left-handed starters. Park Se-woong, Na Kyun-an (Lotte Giants), and Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions), who were all standout performers at the WBC, form a quintet with Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-joo.