“It was better to come to the major leagues to see the fast ball.”
The Korean World Baseball Classic team cannot become a complete team in the field training in Arizona. A practice game in which the main players match is also possible from the official practice game ahead of the tournament.
National team coach Lee Kang-cheol still looked at it from a positive perspective.
Of the 30 players selected for the final entry for the WBC team, 27 are KBO League players. After training at their team’s spring camp, which begins on February 1, they will join the national team’s spring camp in Tucson, Arizona, USA on the 14th. However, three major leaguers, Choi Ji-man (Pittsburgh Pirates) Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) and Tommy Edman (St. Louis Cardinals), will not come to the Arizona camp. During this period, everyone trains at their team’s spring camp. In the case of Choi Ji-man, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation from an elbow fracture and is applying for an annual salary adjustment with his team, so his selection for the national team has not been confirmed. You may have to choose a replacement player. Coach Lee has already discussed a replacement player in case Choi Ji-man cannot come. 안전놀이터
Ha-seong Kim and Edmund will be able to join during training in Korea or practice in Japan at the latest. Director Lee said, “In the case of Kim Ha-seong, we are talking about joining when we train in Gocheok.” After returning to Korea at the end of February, the national team will train at the Gocheok Sky Dome from March 1 to 4. Afterwards, he moved to Osaka, Japan, and had an evaluation match against Orix on March 6 and Hanshin on March 7, then entered Tokyo and played the first round of WBC against Australia at the Tokyo Dome on March 9.
According to the schedule, Kim Ha-seong and Edman can participate in demonstration games for their teams and join the national team.
Manager Lee said, “It seems that Kim Ha-seong can play in about 4 demonstration games,” and said, “I said it was better because I came after seeing the fast ball of the major leaguers.”
Ha-seong Kim and Edmon are infielders, so it is important to keep in sync with their teammates in relay play in defense, but given a week’s time, it seems that there will be no major difficulties.