YTN Radio 'News King Park Ji-hoon' Interview
Diagnosis of the Cause of 2023 World Baseball Classic Elimination
"I expected we would make it to the semifinals. The atmosphere was very good, and I heard the team was well prepared. But the unexpected result was so devastating."
Baseball commentator Lee Soon-chul said this in an interview with YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' on the 14th. He described the Korean national baseball team's elimination from the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) as a shocking outcome. As a result, the Korean baseball team has now suffered the dishonor of being eliminated in the first round for three consecutive tournaments.
The gold medal victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympic baseball tournament has now become a thing of the past. The Korean national baseball team has become like a frog in a well, unable to perform well in international competitions.
Commentator Lee Soon-chul explained, "When they come out to international tournaments and fail to produce any results, while only being frogs in a well in the league, they inevitably face harsh criticism."
Korea fell into crisis from the start after consecutive losses to Australia and Japan. Lee Soon-chul analyzed, "If they had won the first game against Australia, the game against Japan might have gone a bit easier. In the match against Australia, the players were overly tense, and the manager was flustered during the pitching changes, unable to follow his original plan, which I think ultimately led to the defeat."
He also pointed out the problem of starting pitchers being used in the bullpen. Lee Soon-chul said, "You can't just pick a lot of starters indiscriminately; you need to select and utilize bullpen pitchers appropriately. When starters are brought into the bullpen, they struggle to maintain their conditioning and routine, which caused significant difficulties."
Furthermore, he criticized the pitchers' skills themselves. Lee Soon-chul said, "Watching the pitchers' condition up to the evaluation games, some lacked control and their performance declined. Many pitchers on the team were inexperienced and under pressure, which led to them not pitching their own game, causing control issues and such tendencies."
Lee Soon-chul pointed out, "There were eight walks against Australia and nine against Japan. It's said that if you give more than six walks in a game, you can't win. Giving more walks in such important games shows that the pitchers were very nervous. Their skills were revealed there."
He added, "Pitchers need to keep throwing to place the ball where they want with the desired pitch type on the mound, but they get satisfied with 'this is good enough.' When difficult situations arise, they fail to throw where they want, and if the opponent doesn't fall for it, they get nervous."
Lee Soon-chul said, "Many young players were selected this time. I think those players really need to put in a lot of effort. Young pitchers will grow through experience, but in international tournaments, it's not about the growth process; they need to prove themselves."
He advised, "I hope our younger players show that Korean baseball is changing and trying to change by steadily climbing the ranks even in the KBO League. Right now, showing that to baseball fans is the most urgent task."
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