Up-and-coming stars within the Korean baseball league will get to check their mettle in opposition to the mighty Japan this weekend as the 2 nations renew their rivalry in exhibition video games in Tokyo.
Korea and Japan will go toe-to-toe at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and once more at 7 p.m. Sunday, each instances at Tokyo Dome.
The Korea Baseball Group (KBO) scheduled these video games, together with two earlier video games in opposition to the Czech Republic in Seoul, to assist the nationwide workforce gear up for the World Baseball Basic (WBC) in March subsequent yr. Korea, Japan and the Czech Republic will all play in Pool C within the preliminary spherical, with Australia and Chinese language Taipei being the 2 different nations within the group.
Korea dealt with the Czechs with ease, beating them 3-0 whereas putting out 17 batters after which pounding them 11-1 behind 17 hits.
However Japan, the 2023 WBC champion and world No. 1, will current a complete totally different problem for Korea and its supervisor, Ryu Ji-hyun. Korea has misplaced 9 consecutive video games in opposition to Japan in pro-vs.-pro competitions, together with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2023 WBC. Ryu has repeatedly mentioned this week that he’ll attempt to win each video games in Tokyo though they’re solely pre-WBC tuneups as a result of any recreation in opposition to Japan carries additional significance.
On this journey, Ryu has taken a workforce largely made up of 20-something rising stars within the KBO and, within the circumstances of rookie pitchers Jeong Woo-joo and Bae Chan-seung, two youngsters not even a yr out of highschool. The 26-year-old left-hander Son Ju-young is the oldest pitcher on the workforce.
The place participant group options the main KBO Rookie of the 12 months candidate Ahn Hyun-min, who led the league with a .448 on-base share and ranked second general with a 1.018 on-base plus slugging. Ryu has already anointed the 22-year-old because the workforce’s No. 2 hitter for each video games in Tokyo.
Korea supervisor Ryu Ji-hyun watches his gamers throughout a apply session at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul forward of exhibition baseball video games in opposition to Japan in Tokyo, Tuesday. Yonhap
Roh Si-hwan, with a pair of 30-homer, 100-RBI campaigns underneath his belt at age 24, and Moon Bo-gyeong, coming off his second-straight 100-RBI season at 25, will probably be batting within the coronary heart of the order. Infielder Music Sung-mun, scheduled to be posted for MLB golf equipment this winter, is historical on this workforce at 29.
Because the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Video games, the KBO has been assembling nationwide groups with youthful gamers to provide them an early style of worldwide competitors forward of the 2026 WBC. A number of gamers who competed on the under-24 Asia Skilled Baseball Championship in 2023 and the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in 2024 have made the journey to Tokyo this week.
The present roster is with out Main League Baseball (MLB) gamers, equivalent to Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants, Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers and free agent infielder Kim Ha-seong. The KBO can also be gauging curiosity amongst U.S.-born gamers of Korean descent, together with Detroit Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones.
Japan, too, will play with out its MLB stars like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, a trio of pitchers — with Ohtani being a two-way unicorn — who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win their second straight World Sequence title earlier this month. However the Samurai Japan continues to be a stacked workforce as Ryu identified this week, with among the high gamers from the Nippon Skilled Baseball.
Place gamers to look at embody Hiroshima Toyo Carp infielder Kaito Kozono, who gained the Central League batting title with a .309 common; Hanshin Tigers outfielder Shota Morishita, who completed second within the Central League with 23 house runs; and Yokohama DeNA BayStars infielder Shugo Maki, one in every of 5 gamers from the 2023 WBC championship squad on the present workforce.
The pitching employees options the reigning saves leaders from each the Central League and the Pacific League: Shinya Matsuyama of the Chunichi Dragons (46 saves) and Kaima Taira of the Saitama Seibu Lions (31 saves). Lions left-hander Chihiro Sumida set new profession bests with 10 wins and a 2.59 ERA this yr, rating eighth within the Pacific League within the latter class.
