The Korean national baseball team, which will participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), is entering a full-scale actual combat system.

The Korean baseball team, led by head coach Lee Kang-cheol, will return home on the 28th (Korean time) after a joint training session at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. The national team refined its power in Tucson for 12 days from the 16th.메이저사이트

The national team, arriving at Incheon International Airport on March 1st, will have their last practice game in Korea against SSG Landers at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 3rd, two days later. Afterwards, they will move to Japan and play official evaluation matches against Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) on the 6th and 7th, and then play the first round of the WBC Group B finals at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th and 13th. South Korea competes against Japan, Australia, China and the Czech Republic in the first round.

Manager Lee Kang-cheol and coaches focus on restoring the pitchers’ condition and preparing a ‘fighting secret’ for the remaining period. Initially, the national team was going to confirm the pitcher position by improving the condition of the pitchers as much as possible in the joint training in Tucson, Arizona. However, due to the cold and dry weather accompanied by strong winds, the pitchers’ physical condition worsened, so the plan for the pitching team was postponed until after the practice game against SSG on the 3rd.

In this WBC, strict regulations are applied, so there is a high possibility that the win or loss will be different depending on how the mound is operated. The WBC organizing committee introduced several new rules to protect pitchers, the most notable being the ‘minimum three batters’ rule. This is a system introduced in 2020 by the American Major League Baseball (MLB) to reduce the number of pitcher replacements and shorten the duration of the game.

A pitcher on the mound must face at least three batters. All pitchers are subject to this rule, except for pitchers who are suddenly injured or ill. However, pitchers can be replaced in the next inning after one of the three batters has finished their inning.

According to this rule, the use of one-point relief against only one hitter is greatly restricted. It becomes difficult to change a pitcher according to the type of batter, a left-handed pitcher who is strong against left-handed hitters, and a right-handed underhand pitcher that is suitable for right-handed hitters.

Korean baseball, which has achieved good results with exquisite relief strategies according to the situation in past international competitions, needs to come up with a more elaborate and careful relief strategy. The relief pitcher’s control ability has also become important because he has to face three batters unconditionally. If a pitcher who took the mound at the crucial moment walks excessively, he could suffer a fatal blow. Coach Lee Kang-cheol seems to have to prepare a tactic that comprehensively considers the game situation, the pitcher’s condition, control, and outcount.

In addition, the pitch limit and rest days must be taken into account. In this WBC, 65 in the first round of the finals, 80 in the quarterfinals, and 95 in the semifinals and finals were set as the limit. If a pitcher throws more than 30 pitches in a game, he must take a day off, and if he throws more than 50 pitches, he must take four days off. Even if you throw two days in a row, you are guaranteed a rest day.

Coach Lee should devise a mound operation plan with the highest number of pitches, 65, in the first round of the finals, which starts on the 9th of next month.