It is expected that the joining of the Korean and Japanese major league players in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) will be delayed.
Korea and Japan were drawn in Group B (Korea, Japan, Australia, China, Czech Republic) in the first round of the WBC to be held on March 9 at Tokyo Dome, Japan. Five teams battle for two spots in the quarterfinal tournament.
Both Korea, which was eliminated in the first round of the last two tournaments in a row, and Japan, which failed to advance to the final, are both determined to achieve good results in this tournament. A large number of players active in the major leagues are scheduled to participate in this tournament. Korea’s Haseong Kim (San Diego) and Tommy Edman (St. Louis) joined the national team, while Japan’s Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Yu Darvish (San Diego), Seiya Suzuki (Cubs), Masataka Yoshida (Boston), Lars Nuthba (St. Louis) was selected for the national team.
Japan also expressed disappointment at the delay in the joining of major league players. Japanese media Sports Hochi said on the 28th, “As for the timing of major league players such as Ohtani and Darvish, manager Hideki Kuriyama emphasized that nothing has been decided yet. The current match is possible only from the practice match against Hanshin, which will be held on March 6th.”
Coach Kuriyama said, “It is OK to participate in the major league exhibition games, but it is not OK to participate in Japanese practice games. I know that there are various reasons, such as insurance, but if you want to have a good tournament, it is important to prepare the players for what they want to do. Anyway, I’ll do it according to the rules. I’m also preparing for when it doesn’t work,” he said. 메이저놀이터
It is the first time in 14 years since the 2009 final that the Korea-Japan match has been concluded at the WBC. That is why Korea and Japan are determined to take part in this tournament. However, as major league players joined later than expected, setbacks in preparation for the national team became inevitable.
Expectations for this tournament are growing in both countries, but bad news has recently been heard. San Diego announced its policy that its players participating in the WBC should participate in spring training by March. As a result, Ha-seong Kim as well as Darvish are likely to be delayed in joining the national team.
In an interview on the 27th, director Lee Kang-cheol said, “In the case of Kim Ha-seong, it was talked about joining from Gocheok. Edmon hasn’t said anything yet. We said it would be nice if we could join in Gocheok. But he says there are rules. People from the major leagues say that it is possible starting with official practice games. You have to check it out. That’s why I know he can’t play his own practice game.”
Japan also expressed disappointment at the delay in the joining of major league players. Japanese media Sports Hochi said on the 28th, “As for the timing of major league players such as Ohtani and Darvish, manager Hideki Kuriyama emphasized that nothing has been decided yet. The current match is possible only from the practice match against Hanshin, which will be held on March 6th.”
Coach Kuriyama said, “It is OK to participate in the major league exhibition games, but it is not OK to participate in Japanese practice games. I know that there are various reasons, such as insurance, but if you want to have a good tournament, it is important to prepare the players for what they want to do. Anyway, I’ll do it according to the rules. I’m also preparing for when it doesn’t work,” he said.
It is the first time in 14 years since the 2009 final that the Korea-Japan match has been concluded at the WBC. That is why Korea and Japan are determined to take part in this tournament. However, as major league players joined later than expected, setbacks in preparation for the national team became inevitable.