Asian Games, Medal hopefuls Baseball Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju

Kwak Bin wins his first 10 wins and grows into Doosan’s starting lineup.

Moon Dong-ju, a second-year pro, becomes the first Korean pitcher to throw a 160km fastball.

What you can trust is the mound, especially Kwak Bin (24, Doosan Bears) and Moon Dong-ju (19, Hanwha Eagles), who will be responsible for starting.

Korean Baseball Team

The Korean baseball team, which is attempting to win

its fourth consecutive championship at the Hangzhou Asian Games, which opens next month, is composed of 24 players,

including 21 players under the age of 25 or in their fourth year of professional experience and three wild cards under the age of 29.

Korean baseball suffered a critical attack when Lee Jeong-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes),

who won five professional baseball batting crowns last year, injured his ankle and ended up on the operating table.

Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz)’s mental condition is not very good, so the only player who can solve the problem with a chance is Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha).

Noh Si-hwan

As of the 29th, Noh Si-hwan was ranked first in home runs (29) and RBI (86) in the KBO League, was finally reborn as Korea’s best hitter five years after his professional debut.

However, he has no experience participating in international competitions as an adult national team member.

There is no way to know what kind of performance he will show in the Asian Games.

Unlike the shaky batting lineup, there are many young pitchers on the mound who have experience in the Tokyo Olympics and the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

In particular, special expectations are placed on right-handed fastball pitchers

Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju, who throw fast balls.

An official from the national team asserted, “The two pitchers hold the key to the Korean national team.”

Baseball is a ‘pitcher’s game.’

In international competitions where there is not much to face, the presence of pitchers is even greater.

Kwak Bin

Kwak Bin, who became a professional in 2018, osted 10 wins, 6 losses, and an ERA of 2.74 this year,

harvesting double-digit multipliers in a season for the first time in his career.

It was Kwak Bin, who throws a combination of 150 km/h lightspeed balls,

curves, change-ups, and sliders, is one of the three musketeers in the KBO League

who throw fast balls of over 155 km/h, along with Moon Dong-ju and Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom Heroes).

He, along with Raul Alcantara (11 wins), formed the two pillars of the Doosan

starting lineup and grew into a starting pitcher

representing Doosan and professional baseball.

Moon Dong-ju

Moon Dong-ju became a hot topic in April this year

by hitting a 160.1 km/h light ball against KIA Tigers Park Chan-ho.

As Moon Dong-joo is the first Korean player

to throw a ball as fast as 160 km/h in the history of the sport.

The highest speed of his slider and changeup was 149 km/h,

which is far higher than the fast ball speed of most pitchers.

Moon Dong-ju, in his second year as a professional,

took root in the KBO League with success, recording 8 wins, 8 losses,

an ERA of 3.62 while under the protection of the club.

Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju are a duo that catches the eye of national team coach Ryu Joong-il,

who places importance on fast-ball pitchers.

Asian Games

He is a fireballer who can instill pride in the Asian Games by saying,

‘We have a pitcher like this too’ to Korean fans who were envious of the many Japanese pitchers

who can throw at a ridiculous 150 km/h at the WBC in March of this year.

The success or failure of Ryu Joong-il will depend on how the two pitchers ultimately pitch

against Japan and Taiwan in the Asian Games,

a match between Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

As the number of participating countries has not been confirmed,

the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee and the Asian Baseball Federation

have not yet revealed the Asian Games group formation.

However, considering the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) world rankings,

Korea and Taiwan will play in the same group. high portential.

Assuming that Korea advances to the finals,

there is a high probability that Korea will face Taiwan in the group stage and clash

with Japan in the super round between the first and second place players in the group stage.

Looking at the final match where the 1st and 2nd place teams from the Super Round,

which are played based on group stage results, face off,

it is highly likely that Korea will face one of the two teams,

either Japan or Taiwan, twice in the Asian Games.

Game against Japan

Where there were many right-handed pitchers and left-handed hitters,

left-handed pitchers were mainly used, and in the game against Taiwan,

where there were many powerful right-handed hitters,

right-handed pitchers with sharp breaking balls and fast balls were in charge.

The national team selected Lee Ui-ri (KIA) and Koo Chang-mo (NC Dinos) as left-arm starting agents.

As right-handed starting agents, Park Se-woong, Na Kyun-an (Lotte Giants),

Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions), who have been singled out for doing their part in the WBC,

make up the 5 Musketeers along with Kwak Bin and Moon Dong-ju.