The 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) is finally starting to come into reality. There are still two months left until the opening, but interest in the WBC is gradually heating up as the 30 national team members who will board the Lee Kang-cheol are confirmed and announced on the 4th. 메이저놀이터

In the 2023 WBC, the 20 countries advancing to the finals will be divided into 4 groups of 5 teams to hold the first round of the main round, then the top 2 teams in each group, that is, the quarterfinals will be divided into 2 groups again to hold the 2nd round of the final round, and finally the semi-finals and finals will be held in the United States. proceeds in a way
Korea, along with Japan, Australia, China and the Czech Republic, belonged to Group B in the first round, making it inevitable to face off against their archrival Japan. For Korea to advance to the second round of the finals, 3 wins and 1 loss is the bottom line. Therefore, Korea has to make an all-out war against Australia in the first match.

Manager Lee Kang-cheol also said, “All 15 pitchers are ground ball-inducing types. We focused on the first game against Australia (March 9), and looked at the swing trajectories of Australian batters and judged that they were weak against forkballs. “I will use pitchers in good condition during practice, but a bullpen pitcher may start. Regardless of my position, I will use them at important moments.”

However, the match against Japan in the second match is never easy. This is because it has always had a tight match with Japan until now. It is said that Japan has formed the strongest member of all time, but it is clear that baseball fans will pour out criticism if they withdraw helplessly.

So far, the WBC match between Korea and Japan is tight with 4 wins and 4 losses. Meanwhile, Korea’s Koo Dae-seong and Kim Byeong-hyeon won one victory each and Bong Joong-geun won two. On the other hand, Jeon Byung-du, Kim Gwang-hyun, Oh Seung-hwan and Lim Chang-yong each won one loss.

Now, there is no pitcher who won against Japan in the WBC and no pitcher who suffered a defeat except Kim Gwang-hyun. For Kim Gwang-hyun, this was his last chance to avenge his only one loss in the WBC against Japan.

Starting with the national team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kim Gwang-hyun was selected as the national team five times, including the 2009 WBC, the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, and the 2015 and 2019 WBSC Premier12. He is the 6th national team member, including the 2023 WBC, where he has worn the Taegeuk mark again after 4 years. During this time, he won gold medals in three competitions, including the Beijing Olympics, Incheon Asian Games, and 2015 WBSC.

While playing Kim Gwang-hyun’s five national teams, he played 16 games like an ace and recorded 5 wins, 3 losses, 3 holds, and an ERA of 3.43 in 57⅔ innings. 1st place in the most innings and tied for 1st place with Ryu Hyun-jin, Yoon Seok-min and Son Min-han.

However, there is a love-hate relationship with Japan. They have faced each other 6 times so far, 1 win and 2 losses.

He started against Japan at the Beijing Olympics and allowed 1 run in 5⅓ innings, but failed to achieve victory. It was the most glorious victory for his national team.

However, at the 2008 WBC held the following year, he suffered a terrible defeat. After shutting out Taiwan 9-0 in the first round and meeting Japan in the second game, Kim Gwang-hyun, who started as a starter, became a losing pitcher with 7 hits, 3 strikeouts and 8 runs in 1⅓ innings. In addition, Korea suffered a cold game loss in the 7th inning with the disgrace of giving up the most runs (14 runs) in the history of the Korea-Japan match.

Afterwards, Kim Kwang-hyun was excluded from the selection in the second round and tried to find a position by recording a hold with 1 scoreless inning each against Mexico and Japan, who went out to the bullpen, but in the ranking match against Japan, he followed Oh Seung-hwan at 2-2, but scored 3 runs (no score). book) and couldn’t use my strength.

Kim Gwang-hyun met Japan again in the opening match of Group B of the WBSC Premier 12, which was launched in 2015, seven years later. I hoped that Kim Gwang-hyun would avenge the loss he suffered at the WBC seven years ago, but contrary to expectations, he suffered another defeat with 5 hits and 2 runs in 2⅔ innings.

Instead, Kim Gwang-hyun started in the US game, the final, and gave Korea the gift of first victory by pitching 5 innings with no runs and no runs.

Now, Kim Gwang-hyeon will meet Japan after 8 years. It is unknown whether Kim Gwang-hyun will start in the match against Japan in the second round of the 2023 WBC.

Against Japan, who is going to the 2023 WBC as the strongest member of all time, I don’t want Kim Gwang-hyun to be a winning pitcher. As a veteran pitcher who leads the mound, he wants to show pitching that fans can understand in the best condition. that is enough.