The Korean National Baseball Team has put the joys of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games behind them and is now preparing for the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023.
Led by head coach Ryu Jung-il, the team gathered in Daegu on May 5 for a brief meet-and-greet between the coaching staff and players. The next day, on the 6th, they held their first muster at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. The players arrived at the ballpark at around 1:30 p.m. and took the field one by one for a quick warm-up. Afterward, they went through the schedule in a set order by position.
Of course, the team was not fully assembled. Pitchers Jung Woo-young and Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins) and Park Young-hyun, as well as the injured Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz), were excluded from the first practice. In addition, Kim Young-gyu, Kim Hyung-joon, and Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos), who played nine games in the playoffs, will join the team on July 7. For those who were not called up, the team will decide on additional additions and replacements based on the upcoming postseason schedule.
On the surface, the situation is not much different from the Asian Games, where the roster had to be changed due to injuries and poor physical condition. However, there is a reason why the head coach is smiling: the reserve roster.
The baseball team announced its final 26-man roster on March 24, along with a 20-man preliminary roster. Of those players, pitchers Cho Byung-hyun (SSG Landers), Lee Byung-heon (Doosan Bears), Kim Tae-kyung, catcher Heo In-seo, and infielders Han Tae-yang (Sang Sang Commerce), Na Seung-yup (Lotte Giants), and Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha Eagles) participated in the first call-up training.
In an interview ahead of the training session, manager Ryu Jung-il said, “The first reason for bringing seven players from the reserve roster is that the players who played in the Korean Series are likely to miss the APBC, and the second reason is that we need to prepare for replacements as there may be injuries. We will most likely do the same for future international tournaments.” 토토사이트
“We have talked to the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) governor, Heo Koo-yeon, to train not only the players who are on the roster, but also to replace them immediately if there are any physical problems or injuries along the way. “If we have a reserve roster of six or seven players, we can replace them before submitting the final roster. We have about six days to train, and in between, we have two practice games with the managing director to check the condition of the players,” he added. The idea is that there will be no more last-minute roster changes.
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