South Korean baseball team manager Ryu Jung-il has set his sights on winning the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC).
Ryu attended a press conference for the participating nations of the APBC in Tokyo, Japan, on April 24. Ryu was joined by Hirokazu Ibata of the Japanese National Baseball Team, Chen Jin-feng of the Chinese Taipei National Baseball Team, and Australian National Baseball Team pitching coach Graeme Lloyd.
Liu led China’s baseball team to a gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which concluded earlier this month, marking the team’s fourth consecutive victory at the tournament.
Ryu’s success at the Asian Games, where he led a team of young players to the top of the podium, has been hailed as a successful generational change for South Korea’s baseball program, which has been on the decline in recent years due to a lack of international success.안전놀이터
After winning the Asian Games, Ryu will once again take the helm of the national baseball team for the APBC, which begins in November.
According to a Japanese media report on Nov. 24, Ryu said, “(Korean baseball) won the gold medal at the Asian Games and succeeded in changing the generation. The 26-man roster for the APBC also includes about two-thirds of the players who represented the Asian Games. We are determined to win the APBC with all our might.”
The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the 26-man roster for the APBC today. The tournament is open to players aged 24 or younger (born on or after January 1, 1999) or within their third year in the KBO (born after 2021), with up to three players aged 29 or younger (born on or after January 1, 1994) as wild cards.
The roster features 26 players, including 12 pitchers, three catchers, six infielders and five outfielders, including 17 players who shared the gold medal at the Asian Games.
Moon Dong-ju, who pitched well in the final against Chinese Taipei, Noh Si-hwan, who batted fourth, and Kang Baek-ho (KT), who bounced back from his international slump with a gold medal, have been recalled, while Kwak Bin (Doosan), who didn’t play a single game at the Asian Games due to illness, will look to redeem himself at the APBC.
Left-hander Lee Yi-ri (KIA), who was dropped from the final roster for the Asian Games due to a late-season slump in the regular season, has also been selected.
The symbol of the national team’s batting lineup, the No. 4 hitter, is also played by Noh in the APBC.
Noh, who won the home run title for the first time in his career with 31 home runs this season, batted fourth in the Asian Games, hitting .438 with six RBIs, a 0.577 slugging percentage and a 0.563 on-base percentage in six games.
“As a No. 4 hitter, you need to be able to come through at key times,” Liu said. “The APBC No. 4 hitter is Noh Si-hwan, who is the home run king this season. I hope he will show his long-hitting power in this tournament as well.”
The selected players will gather in Daegu on November 5 for training and practice games at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu from November 6 to 13.
However, the number of players will change depending on the postseason schedule. The final roster for the tournament may also be adjusted depending on the Korean Series schedule.
A total of 20 reserve players will be allowed to participate in the tournament according to the regulations. The Power Enhancement Committee selected the 20-player reserve roster to accommodate the Korean Series and postseason schedule and in the event that players need to be replaced due to injury, the committee announced today.
The 20-man reserve roster consists of nine pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and three outfielders. Five players were selected from clubs that are currently playing in the postseason, including Park Myung-geun (LG), Son Dong-hyun (KT), Kim Si-hoon, Shin Min-hyuk (NC), and Jeon Eui-san (SSG).
The 2023 APBC will be held from Nov. 16-19 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Korea will open the tournament on Nov. 16 against Australia.
