The three left-handed pitchers representing Korea’s pro baseball teams, including Ryu Hyun-jin (37) and Yang Hyeon-jong (37) and Kim Kwang-hyun (36) have been in charge of major international competitions for the past 16 years, from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2015 World Baseball Classic, and the World Baseball Classic in March last year. However, the Korean national baseball team will be reborn as a new team without the three starting from the Premier 12 that will take place in Taiwan and Japan in November.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) submitted a preliminary list of 60 players to the organizing committee on the 12th, but the names of the three players were not included. KBO said, “We have formed a preliminary list of young players in their 20s in preparation for the 2026 WBC and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” adding, “We expect young players to experience a higher level of international competition through Premier 12 following last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC).”메이저사이트
The starting pitchers for the Korean national team will be Won Tae-in (24) and Kwak Bin (25) and Moon Dong-ju (21) of Hanwha. Won and Kwak, who participated in the WBC last year, have grown into ace pitchers for their teams this season. As of Tuesday, Won has 14 wins and six losses and an earned run average of 3.55, while Kwak has 12 wins and nine losses and an earned run average of 4.28. Won has the largest number of wins, while Kwak has the most wins in his team. Moon Dong-ju, who served as an ace at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, suffered from minor injuries this year and has seven wins and seven losses and an earned run average of 5.17 per hour, but he is one of the few power pitchers who can throw fast balls over 160 kilometers per hour.
With the absence of a reliable left-handed starting pitcher being pointed out as a weakness, the KBO has strengthened its starting lineup by including Ko Young-pyo (33) of the Korea Side Arm in the preliminary list. Ko is the oldest among the 60 players on the preliminary list.
The bullpen pitcher lineup is also expected to become younger than before. Doosans rookie closer Kim Taek-yeon, KTs third-year pitcher Park Young-hyun, and Kias second-year pitcher Kwak Do-kyu are on the list. KIAs Kim Do-young, Samsung`s Kim Young-woong and SSG rookie Park Ji-hwan were among the fielders.
The Premier 12 can change its preliminary roster until the final entry (28 players) is confirmed. The KBO said it will continue to consider replacing players in positions that require reinforcement, taking into account final performance and analysis of players’ capabilities in other countries. The deadline for submission of the final entry is March 11.