The baseball team isn’t done yet, explore to the end
The baseball team for the Hangzhou Asian Games is far from complete. Even the final roster, which has already been announced, is still subject to many variables and is in fact still being “explored” until the last minute. We’re looking at the KBO League to make final roster changes, while also analyzing the strength of our opponents.
On June 9, the baseball team announced its final roster of 24 players. The announcement came nearly four months before the tournament, giving the players time to prepare physically and mentally. Instead, they left the door open for variables like injuries.
The worst of the “what ifs” has come to pass. Outfielder Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom), a key part of the core, was injured in July, ending his season and leaving the national team. Starting pitcher Jang Chang-mo (NC), who is rehabbing from an injury, has yet to return to the mound. Some players, such as Park Se-woong (Lotte) and Jeong Woo-young (LG), have suffered serious setbacks.
The national team faces a double whammy when it comes to selecting players. As part of the national team’s generational change, the team is composed entirely of players under the age of 23, with the exception of three wild cards, and the KBO League agreed not to interrupt the tournament, allowing each club to select a maximum of three players. As long as the KBO League continues to play, we can’t break the rules as long as the core of each team is on the national team. Considering their current overall form, the roster is a mess.
South Korea’s baseball competition at the Asian Games begins on October 1. The players will play for their respective teams until September 22 before being called up. Since the final roster changes can only be made up until the start of the Games, the national team plans to keep a close eye on the status of the players as much as possible before the call-up to confirm the replacements and finalize the roster.
The national team, which is in the midst of a domestic league inspection to replace players, has started analyzing the opponents’ strength early.
The national team’s coaching staff, including head coach Ryu Jung-il, traveled to Japan last month to analyze the Japan Unemployed Baseball League and departed for Taiwan on the 23rd. The purpose of the trip was to watch the Taiwan Professional League and study the players of the week, especially the pitchers.
South Korean baseball has won three consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010, Incheon in 2014, and Jakarta-Palembang in 2018. Their biggest opponents in Asia are always Japan and Taiwan.
The baseball competition will be held from Sept. 24-28, with eight nations divided into two groups, including the two countries that qualified and the six nations that went straight to the main event, including Korea. The top two teams from each group, a total of four, will advance to the Super Round, where they will face two teams from the other group. The teams that finish first and second in the super rounds, with their group standings intact, will play for the gold medal.토토사이트
Korea’s fate will depend on whether they are drawn with Japan or Chinese Taipei, which has yet to be finalized. Depending on the world ranking, the team is likely to be drawn with Chinese Taipei, which is expected to field its strongest squad with overseas players from the US minor leagues as well as its own professional league.