Ryu Joong-il, who has seen his offense get even sharper, will inevitably have a match against Japan, which ranks first in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Choi Seung-yong (Doosan Bears) spearheaded the lead.토토사이트

The South Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, will play its third match in Group B of the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 15th.

The mood in Korea is not bad right now. She knelt down 3-6 against Taiwan in the first match of the tournament, but beat Cuba 8-4 in the second match, successfully rebounding.

As evidenced by its No. 1 ranking in the WBSC rankings, however, Japan is by no means an easy target. In the first match against Australia held earlier, the team showed off its performance at several levels and secured a 9-3 complete victory.

In particular, Korean baseball did not show any significant performance to Japan at the recent championships, where professional players formed a team. After winning the semifinals of the Premier 12 in 2015, the team lost to Japan in six games, including the 2019 Premier 12 Super Round and Final, the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) first round, and the Asian Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023 qualifying and final.

However, we cannot give up. Korea, which is currently tying for third place in Group B with the Dominican Republic by one win and one loss, needs to secure a win against Japan in order to increase the possibility that it can advance to the Super Round, which can advance to the second place in the group.

Ryu Joong-il's offense power, which got fiercer through the match against Cuba, is a boon to Ryu. He only had three hits and three runs scored in the match against Taiwan, but had nine hits and eight runs in the match against Cuba. Above all, Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) showed remarkable performance. Having one hit, one RBI, one run and one stolen base from three times at bat in the match against Taiwan, Ryu garnered three hits, two homers, and five RBIs in four times at bat, including a grand slam and a solo shot, respectively, in the bottom of the second and seventh innings.

Japanese media were also wary of Kim's performance. TBS News Digest posted an interview with Kim, saying, "Korea's Shohei Ohtani needs to be wary of Kim." Another media outlet, Full Count, said, "Kim has been a top prospect since he joined the Major League. He has improved further this year. The star, who is drawing attention from the world, hit the bases loaded against Rivan Monello, who ranks first in ERA (1.88) in the Pacific League this year. Japanese fans also seem to be in shock."

In addition, Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins, one hit in two at-bats) who recently showed sluggish performance also hit a double to left in the bottom of the second inning against Cuba, laying the groundwork for rebound. With right-hander Hiroto Takahashi, who won 12 games and lost four games with 1.38 ERA (No. 1 in Central League) at the Chunichi Dragons this year as a Japanese starting pitcher, attention is focusing on whether the Korean team will be able to display its competitive edge against Takahashi and other Japanese pitchers.

Choi Seung-yong will serve as the starting pitcher for Korea. Choi, who was designated by Doosan as the 20th overall pick in the second round in 2021, is a left-hander who had six wins, 13 losses and one save and seven holds in 97 games (222.2 innings) until last year. This year, he started the season late due to injury and had only two wins and one hold with an ERA of 6.00 in 12 games (27 innings), but pitched well in the second game of the wild card game against the KT Wiz by allowing three hits, two strikeouts, and no run in 4.2 innings. He also pitched well in three games of APBC 2023, which was an international stage, by allowing two hits and one run in 3.2 innings.

Ryu's biggest strength is his powerful bullpen. They worked together to secure six scoreless innings in the match against Taiwan, and allowed four runs and three earned runs in five innings in the match against Cuba. Except for Kim Taek-yeon (Doosan, three runs and three earned runs in 0 innings), who lost many runs in the match against Cuba, all pitched fairly well. If Choi stops the team by allowing the fewest runs in the beginning, Korea can mobilize all of its bullpen resources to lead the game equally.

Indeed, Ryu will face off against Japan, which is leading Korea by one notch. However, in sports, especially in baseball, unexpected events can happen anytime. Attention is focusing on whether Ryu Joong-il will be able to turn on the green light for his advance to the Super Round by producing a pleasant surprise that will defeat Japan.