The successors of Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong, who were called candidates for the next ‘Japanese killer’ and were influential in starting the Korea-Japan match, have disappeared. Although leftist lines from Japan appear one after another, Gu Chang-mo and Lee Eui-ri, the successors of ‘Kwang Hyeon-jong’, did not appear at all.
Korea lost 4-13 in Group B Japan in the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 10th. As a result, Korea suffered two losses and was in danger of being eliminated in the first round.
The previous day (9th), Korea suffered a shocking defeat in the first game against Australia, 7-8. Now, I had to risk life and death against Korea and Japan. As the starting pitcher for the match against Japan, Korea chose Kim Gwang-hyeon, who was called the “original Japanese killer,” the oldest member of the pitching team. In the end, the fate of Korea had to be placed on Kim Kwang-hyun’s shoulders once again, just as he believed 15 years ago at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In fact, considering Japan’s left-handed hitting line, choosing Kim Gwang-hyun as the starting pitcher was an acceptable choice. There was no pitcher with as much experience in the Korea-Japan match as Kim Gwang-hyun. And even if Japan tried to respond to left-hander Kwang-Hyun Kim, the best lineup had to be left-handed batters for the top lineups from 1 to 5 (Las Nuba-Genske Kondo-Shohei Otani-Munetaka Murakami-Masataka Yoshida).
First of all, Kim Gwang-hyun did his part by pulling out 5 strikeouts, including Shohei Ohtani, until the 2nd inning. However, in the top of the 3rd inning, after the batting line succeeded in scoring the first 3 runs, they played too cautiously and allowed 8th left-handed hitter Genda Sosuke and 9th right-handed hitter Yuhei Nakamura to walk consecutively, causing a crisis. In the crisis, the left-handed hitter led to the top batting line, and was pursued 3-2 by giving up a timely hit to Las Nutba and a timely double to Kensuke Kondo.
Bench had to make a choice. It was inevitable to replace Kim Gwang-hyun in the crisis of conceding points. The limit on the number of pitches in the first round (65) is also imminent. However, the national team bench did not select pitchers such as Gu Chang-mo and Lee Eui-ri, who were promising and were considered to succeed Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong. Won Tae-in, a right-hander, was put forward instead of a left-hander. He greeted Ohtani in the crisis of second and third base safely, and carried out the operation to load the bases by sending him out with an automatic intentional fourth pitch. Won Tae-in treated Murakami as a shortstop floating ball at the bases full, but eventually allowed Yoshida to hit 2 RBIs in a timely manner, allowing the game to turn around 3-4. It was the runner in charge of Kim Gwang-hyun, and the situation was rectified without additional points, but the choice followed by regret was clear.
After that, he brought Won Tae-in up to the 5th inning, but he allowed Kondo a solo shot and conceded an extra run. Afterwards, the pitcher was replaced again ahead of Ohtani’s at-bat, but this time, instead of a left-handed pitcher, Kwak Bin, a right-handed fastball pitcher, was put forward. Kwak Bin allowed Ohtani to double, causing a crisis, and Yoshida allowed a sacrifice fly to concede.
After Kwak Bin, Jeong Cheol-won took over the baton and tried to take charge of the 6th episode, but failed. Jeong Cheol-won dealt with lead hitter Takumu Nakano, who was a left-handed hitter, and gave up a three-base hit. It was only after that that left-hander Kim Yun-sik stepped onto the mound. However, Kim Yun-sik allowed Yuhei Nakamura to walk and Nutba to throw four balls, causing the bases to be loaded safely, and even allowed Kondo to walk away.
The Korean bench changed pitchers again ahead of Ohtani’s at-bat, but this time it was right-hander Kim Won-joong, not left-hander. Kim Won-joong also failed to capture Ohtani, Murakami, and Yoshida’s left-handed line. This time, Gu Chang-mo and Lee Eui-ri were not moderated.
It was a situation where the left-handed line came out and the crisis continued, but it could not be stopped. In the end, only 5 runs were allowed in the 6th inning, and the score went up to 4-11. As much as that, Chang-mo Koo and Eui-ri Lee were not trusted and were not included in the elite pitching team. 바카라
It was in the 7th inning that the gap had already widened significantly when Koo Chang-mo and Lee Eui-ri took the mound. However, Gu Chang-mo allowed a crisis with 1 company, 2nd and 3rd bases with 2 hits while catching only 1 outcount. Subsequently, Eui-ri Lee took over the baton, but with a walk, he made a full base crisis in front of Ohtani. Ohtani and Yoshida allowed push walks. His speed exceeded 150km, but his pitches were scattered. After making two bases, he eventually handed over the mound to Park Se-woong.