The Korean national team, which will participate in the WBC (World Baseball Classic) next month, has started preparing for the tournament in earnest.
28 out of 30 players and 8 coaching staff gathered in Tucson, Arizona, USA on the 15th. Representative players who were training for their teams in Florida, Sydney, Australia, Okinawa, Japan, and Guam gathered in Korea and flew to Tucson together. KBO (Korea Baseball Organization) provided business-class tickets to the players to manage their condition, and also made them use one room per person at a luxury resort.
Major leaguers Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) and Tommy Hyeon-soo Edman (St. Louis Cardinals) participated in their team’s spring camp and will return to Korea to join the national team. The national team will begin official training on the 16th at the Keno Sports Complex in Tucson. KBO has also airlifted about 3 tons of items necessary for training, such as training equipment, treatment equipment, and official balls, from Korea.
This is the first time that the WBC national team is training in the United States (excluding Hawaii and Guam). Arizona is an area where six Korean professional baseball teams are holding spring camps, including KT, the team of national coach Lee Kang-cheol.
Kim Hyeon-soo (LG), captain of the national team, said, “The players came from their team training and moved around a lot. It’s a bit difficult, but since we’re all together, I’ll quickly improve my condition and get good results.”
Kim Gwang-hyeon (SSG), who flew 5 hours from Florida, said, “The major league ball (WBC official ball) has a tendency to bend like a fastball with a slightly cut fastball. I will make the best physical condition on the 9th.”
Lee Jeong-hoo (Kiwoom), who is scheduled to challenge MLB (US Professional Baseball) after the 2023 season, also cheered for him, saying, “Kiwoom colleagues don’t get hurt and go to the finals.” He strengthened his will, saying, “I will do well by joining forces with my seniors.” Lee Jung-hoo was recently selected as one of the best players by WBC position by MLB.com. The New York Post also ranked him 14th in the ‘Interesting Figures in Baseball’. 카지노
The unexpected cold that came to Tucson is a variable. It rained the day before the call day, and the lowest temperature dropped to 6 degrees Celsius, and the wind blew strong, making the perceived temperature even lower. On the 16th, his first training day, the lowest temperature was predicted to be minus 1 degree.
Manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “Now that the players are gathered, I think I can feel it. However, there are players who travel a lot, so I will pay attention to conditioning and adjust training according to the weather.”
The national team will train in Tucson until the 27th of this month. During this period, they plan to play practice matches with NC, KIA, and KT one by one to enhance their sense of practice. Director Lee said, “I will check the pitchers’ pitches and check their condition, and I will test Oh Ji-hwan (LG) and Kim Hye-seong (Kiwoom) in the infield without Kim Ha-seong and Edmund.”
The national team will return to Korea on the 1st of next month, finish training at the Gocheok Dome from the 2nd, and then go to Osaka, Japan on the 4th to play a practice match against Orix (6th) and Hanshin (7th), members of NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball). . After that, we move to Tokyo, the land of the decisive battle. Korea was in Group B with Australia (March 9th), Japan (10th), Czech Republic (12th) and China (13th). If they finish in second place in their group, they advance to the quarterfinals, and if they reach the semifinals, they move on to Miami, Florida, USA, to play. The national team aims to advance to the quarterfinals. /Tucson (Arizona) = Reporter Kim Young-joon