National baseball team needs more competitive pitchers

[Anchor]

The national baseball team, which was eliminated in the first round of the Premier 12, returned to South Korea today.

Analysts say that to end the repeated tragedies in international competitions, it is urgent to cultivate and utilize more competitive pitchers.

This is a report by Lee Moo-hyung.

[Report]

Korean baseball, which had been behind Japan to the extent that Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki made his so-called "30-year comment."

[Ichiro Suzuki/Former Japan National Baseball Team Player/2006: "It means I want to win that much."]

However, Korean baseball players fought on equal terms with Japanese baseball players until the mid-2010s, with the emergence of active Major League players like Park Chan-ho, as well as domestic aces like Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Kwang-hyun, and Oh Seung-hwan.

However, after that, the ongoing tragedies in international competitions could not be broken again, and coach Ryu Joong-il first mentioned his regrets about not cultivating starting pitchers.

[Ryu Joong-il/National Baseball Team Coach: "We need to make our starting pitchers stronger; we need to prepare well for that. It’s a bit regrettable that we couldn’t use a player like Park Young-hyun because we gave up runs early."]

The bullpen, which was considered a strength, collapsed in the game against Japan, and our national team lacked mound competitiveness, as evidenced by having a higher earned run average than Taiwan, which was considered a weaker opponent.

There are rising voices that the analysis that the opponent would be weak against an underhand pitcher in the first match against Taiwan was overly complacent, and that player utilization was not appropriate.

[Kim Do-young/National Baseball Team Infielder: "I thought the team Taiwan was stronger than I had expected, but if we face them again, I think we can win."]

Despite the public's enthusiasm, with ten million spectators in Korea, Korean baseball is once again struggling in overseas competitions.

All eyes are on whether a turning point can be reached in the less than two years remaining until the next WBC.

KBS News, Lee Moo-hyung.