In fact, it was close to a 5-minute standby. When the team needed it, he showed a fighting spirit of throwing the ball at any time.
Korea won the 22-2 5th cold game victory against China in the final match of Group B of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 13th. On this day, the national team won and recorded 2 wins and 2 losses in the group stage, but Japan (4 wins) and Australia (3 wins and 1 loss) were behind in the winning rate, so the first round elimination was confirmed.
Korea put Won Tae-in as the starting pitcher. Won Tae-in has been steadily pitching since the WBC official evaluation match held in Osaka, Japan. He appeared in 4 out of 6 matches, including 2 evaluation matches and 4 group matches. In terms of pitches, he had a total of 108 pitches before China. He threw the most pitches among the national team pitchers, surpassing Kim Gwang-hyeon (83 pitches).
Perhaps it was because he threw a lot of balls in a short period of time, but his pitching in the beginning of the game was shaky. The team faced a crisis with two outs loaded with two hits and a walk in the bottom of the first inning with a 2-0 lead. Afterwards, it was far from a neat pitch, allowing Cao Jie to score two RBIs on time and tie the score 2-2. The final score was 1 inning, 26 pitches, 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts and 2 runs. It was a game that was far from the pitching of Won Tae-in that he showed during the tournament.
Not only Won Tae-in, but also Kim Won-joong,스포츠토토 Jeong Cheol-won, Park Se-woong, and Kwak Bin also threw a lot of balls. When the team needed it, it was practically a 5-minute waiting list that had to go to the mound at any time.
Jeong Cheol-won and Kim Won-joong pitched 62 pitches and 41 pitches, respectively, in five consecutive games from the evaluation match to the third group match against the Czech Republic. Park Se-woong and the starter and bullpen went back and forth and recorded 91 pitches. Kwak Bin also threw 61 pitches in three out of five games.
It was difficult to maintain my condition due to frequent appearances. Cheol-Won Jeong (1 run in 1⅓ innings), Won-Jung Kim (2 runs in 1 ⅔ innings), and Bin Kwak (3 runs in 2 innings) were sluggish. Park Se-woong (six scoreless innings) was the only one who kept his pride.
No one can throw stones at them. His fighting spirit, which stood proudly on the mound with the responsibility of being a national representative, needs to be properly evaluated beyond records.