Pitcher Park Se-woong (Lotte) of the Korean national baseball team is excitedly waiting for the opening of the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Park Se-woong arrived in Tucson, Arizona, USA on the 15th (Korean time). Before participating in the national team, Park Se-woong did not go to Guam, the camp site of his club’s 1st team, to reduce his fatigue as much as possible, but remained at the Sangdong Stadium in the 2nd team to warm up. It was a preparation for him to be able to show off his best condition in the WBC.
Park Se-woong, who first wore the Taegeuk mark at the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) in 2017, where only players under the age of 24 participate, was named to the official adult national team for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. This is his second adult national team.
Park Se-woong, who is training with a brighter expression than anyone else at the Kino Sports Complex, the training ground for the national team, recorded 2 hits, 1 strikeout and 1 run in 1 inning in a practice match against the KIA Tigers held on the 20th. His highest fastball velocity was 147 km. He threw a total of 20, a mix of forkballs, sliders and curveballs.
Park Se-woong, who we met after the mound, said, “Today’s pitching was fine in its own way. I tried to throw a lot of strikes without worrying about anything else, so it went better. My speed has also improved more than in Korea.”
A few variables for this national team are the stadium and the official ball. Tokyo Dome is not unfamiliar to Park Se-woong as he experienced it at the 2017 APBC. At the time, he came out as a starter against Japan and recorded 3 hits, 4 strikeouts and 1 run in 3 innings. If Park Se-woong goes to Japan, it will be an opportunity to avenge the defeat suffered by Korea’s 0-7 defeat at the time.
The official ball for this tournament, which has more stitches than the KBO ball, is a task that still needs to be mastered. Park Se-woong said, “The official pitch is more difficult to curve than other pitches. All other pitchers said that the curve is missing.
What Park Se-woong believes in are the best national teammates. In particular, in this tournament, active major leaguer Kim Ha-seong (San Diego) and Korean-American Tommy Edman (St. Louis) will form a keystone combination as a shortstop and second baseman, respectively. Both players boast the best defense in the major leagues enough to be nominated for the league Gold Glove Award last year. 스포츠토토 The official homepage of Major League Baseball introduced that “Korea is one of the best keystone combinations in participating countries.”
Park Se-woong seemed happy at the thought of throwing a ball with Ha-seong Kim and Edmund behind him. Park Se-woong was excited, saying, “I have high expectations of being with the best players. Above all, I am a ground ball judo type, so I am more looking forward to having major league infielders behind me.”
Lastly, Park Se-woong revealed his bigger dream as a national representative, saying, “Now, it seems that all international competitions will be completed only by participating in the Asian Games and Premier 12. First, I want to achieve good results in this competition and take one step at a time.”