“Korea will select 30 strong players to participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).”
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) introduced 30 Korean players to participate in the 2023 WBC on the 12th (Korean time). WBSC chose Kim Gwang-hyeon (35, SSG Landers) as the photo of the Korean national team player. Kim Gwang-hyun has been active as a left-handed ace representing Korea since he contributed to the gold medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics. Korea has produced good results in the competitions where Kim Gwang-hyun played as an ace, such as the 2009 WBC runner-up, the 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medal, and the 2015 WBSC Premier 12 championship.
According to the WBSC, Korea, ranked 4th in the world, will play against Japan ranked 1st in the world, Australia ranked 10th, the Czech Republic ranked 15th, and China ranked 30th in Group B of the group stage. Korea has selected 30 strong players, including 5 Premier 12 stars, 3 major leaguers, 2 gold medalists at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and 12 participants at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.’
Three active major leaguers also paid attention. WBSC said, ‘Tommy Edman (28) is a Gold Glove winner and plays second base for the St. Louis Cardinals. Thanks to his mother, Maureen Kwak, who was born in Korea, Edmund was able to represent Korea at the WBC,’ he explained. Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres) pointed out that he was a Premier 12 star in 2019, and Choi Ji-man (32, Pittsburgh Pirates) was a slugger.
As former major leaguers, Kim Gwang-hyun and pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong (35, KIA Tigers), infielder Park Byeong-ho (37, kt Wiz), and outfielder Kim Hyun-soo (35, LG Twins) were mentioned, emphasizing their rich experience in international competitions. .
As the world ranking explains, Korea is evaluated as having the second strongest power after Japan in Group B. It is expected that if Australia successfully overcomes the ambush against the first game of the tournament, it will advance to the quarterfinal tournament without difficulty.
Lee Kang-cheol, coach of the Korean national baseball team, announced the final 30 entries on the 4th and said, “I think a crisis is an opportunity. I have been given an important position, and I personally feel honored.” Rather than doing it above, I want to get out of Japan.”
Korea will meet Australia on March 9th, Japan on March 10th, Czech Republic on March 12th, and China on March 13th at the Tokyo Dome in Japan for the first round of the finals. If they finish second or higher in Group B, they will continue to play two quarterfinal tournament matches at Tokyo Dome, Japan, and the first and second places in the Asian round determined here will advance to the championship round in Miami, USA. 스포츠토토
◆ 2023 WBC Korea National Team 30-man roster
Pitchers: Woo-Seok Ko (LG) Joon So-Jun (kt) Yong-Chan Lee (NC) Tae-In Won (Samsung) Won-Joong Kim (Lotte) Se-Woong Park (Lotte) Bin Kwak (Doosan) Cheol-Won Jung (Doosan) Woo-Young Jung (LG) Young-Pyo Ko (kt) Gwanghyeon Kim (SSG) Yoonsik Kim (LG) Hyeonjong Yang (KIA) Euiri Lee (KIA) Changmo Koo (NC) or more 15