We must prepare for the vacancy of the save king. Now, who should be responsible for the back door of the Korean WBC team?
On the 6th, in the official evaluation match against the Orix Buffaloes held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan, they were defeated 2-4. Against Orix’s 1.5-class players, they made 3 defensive mistakes and lost completely. He pursued late in the ninth inning, but it was not enough.
However, what is more painful than the loss is Ko Woo-seok’s self-injury, which is supposed to be the finishing pitcher. On this day, Ko Woo-seok came on the mound after Lee Yong-chan in the 7th inning with 2nd out and 3rd base. He caught the first batter, Ishioka, on a grounder to second base.
In the eighth, he gave up an infield hit to second baseman Sano, the lead batter, and a sacrifice bunt to Ryota Kita. The problem arose while dealing with Chano at 1st and 2nd base. Ko Woo-suk complained of abnormalities in his body after preoccupying the 2nd strike. He frowned as he continued to fidget with his neck. The trainer came up to the mound to check Ko Woo-seok’s condition and he judged that pitching was difficult. Eventually he had to come straight down the mound.
After the game, a representative from the national team explained, “I am icing due to muscle pain in the back of my neck and right shoulder.” Director Lee Kang-cheol explained that he needed to check the condition more this evening.
If Ko Woo-seok is eliminated, it is no different from missing the current bullpen ace. Go Woo-seok overpowered opponent batters with his fastball over 150km and slider as his main weapons. Ko Woo-seok’s current pitch is comparable to that of major league pitchers. Currently, international competitions like the WBC require a strategy to block the opponent’s brunt while threatening with force.
If Go Woo-seok is missing, it will be a loss for the team. Someone needs to prevent the absence of Go Woo-seok, who became the save king with a record of 42 wins, 2 losses and 1.48 ERA in 61 games.
It may not be difficult to find an alternative as the bullpen pitchers who throw the best in 10 domestic clubs and players who play the role of the last bastion are gathered. Right now, senior pitchers who have left their mark in the league as much as Go Woo-seok are waiting for them. Both Lee Yong-chan (34), who recorded 128 saves in his career, and Kim Won-joong (30), who accumulated 77 saves in a short period of time, can be used in critical situations. 메이저놀이터
Or, as in his team, LG, Jung Woo-young can say let’s shoulder the burden together. Jung Woo-young has no save record last year, but he has a sense of stability enough to record 35 holds. However, it is doubtful whether he will be able to produce proper results under the pressure to produce the best results.
It is a situation where we have to worry about Ko Woo-seok’s injury and departure, but concerns about the batting order and the problem of organizing the defensive position are also creeping up. There are currently fewer matches left before the final round of the tournament than ever before, and there is no time to properly test them.
It is a situation that has no choice but to focus together on finding an alternative to Go Woo-seok. Ko Woo-seok said he would prepare for multi-innings. However, the injury is lightning fast. It is an unattractive situation, so I am interested in what kind of idea director Lee Kang-cheol will find. The best-case scenario is that Ko Woo-seok is not seriously injured and is in normal condition until the game against Australia. What will Ko Woo-seok’s injury bring to the national team?