“I will go up to the highest place unconditionally”
KBO announced a list of 30 players to participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) at the Baseball Hall in Dogok-dong, Seoul on the 4th. It is not the final entry, but if there are no major variables, the players included in the entry now will compete in the first round held in Tokyo in March 2023.
Coach Lee Kang-cheol focused on the match against Australia, which was the first team to face off. Group B includes Japan, Australia, China, and the Czech Republic, and China and the Czech Republic have a high chance of winning as they are the ‘weakest’. Even if the Korean national team loses to Japan, if only Australia is defeated, Korea’s chances of advancing to the quarterfinals are very high.
When asked about the pitcher selection criteria, manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “I mainly selected ground ball judo players who can be strong against Australia. Looking at the pitchers as a whole, they are players with large angle curves and forkballs as their main weapons.” Bonnie thought that a curve or forkball with a large angle would be effective.”
Park Se-woong (Lotte Giants), who is known for his sharp curveball and forkball among domestic starting pitchers, was also included in the national team roster. Park Se-woong signed an extension contract with Lotte in the offseason for a total of 9 billion won for 5 years (7 billion won in annual salary, 2 billion won in options), and then he tasted the joy of being selected for the WBC national team.
From Park Se-woong’s point of view, the start of 2023 is not bad. Park Se-woong, who got in touch with ‘My Daily’, expressed his joy, saying, “It is an honor to be able to participate in the biggest tournament in baseball as a national team member, and I feel a sense of responsibility.” We are preparing,” he said.
He gained his first adult national team experience by participating in Park Se-woong’s first Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), and was most recently selected as a representative for the Tokyo Olympics. However, he has a different mindset as his performance at the recent Tokyo Olympics was not good. He emphasized, “There was a disappointing result at the Tokyo Olympics.
Watching the national soccer team make it to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar, I received a lot of inspiration. Park Se-woong said, “The national soccer team achieved good results in the round of 16 in this World Cup, and if we do well, I think fans will pay a lot of attention like before. I feel a lot of responsibility.”
Park Se-woong has a reputation as a pitcher who raises the pace to 100% since spring camp practice games and exhibition games. Especially in 2020, he has a fast pace enough to spray fast balls over 150km/h several times in his own Cheongbaekjeon. The WBC, which takes place before the season begins, is naturally happy to see Park Se-woong.
He said, “I think the fact that the WBC is played before the season is a good thing for me. I will be able to demonstrate my skills a little more in international competitions. And since I am a pitcher with a short time to relax my arms, any position is fine메이저놀이터.” “But I think I need to prepare well in terms of physical strength because I’m going to have international competitions and the regular season,” he said.
Park Se-woong is already practicing with the official ball of ‘Rollings’ used by the WBC. How does he feel when he touches the ball himself? Park Se-woong said, “The texture of the leather is different, but the stitches are at different heights. I think I need to adapt in this area. However, the forkball is not a pitch that is thrown on stitches. It doesn’t seem like it,” he explained.
Park Se-woong’s goal, like director Lee Kang-chul’s, is to get out of Japan. And he went on to look at the final stage. He said, “The goal of the players is to go all the way to the United States and play the finals. I am the same,” he said. “It is important to catch a specific player, but the most important thing is for the team to win. did.