Song Sung-moon's injury, which rang out as "the team's best batting talent," signaled a red flag to join the WBC... Roh Si-hwan - Kim Do-young's eyes

*This content was translated by AI.

"Moon Hyun-bin has a really good batting side. Song Sung-moon is a player with a long shot added to it. The blow is the best."

An official from the national team who went to the first Saipan camp impressed Moon Hyun-bin (22, Hanwha Eagles)' batting ability. What drew more attention here was Song Sung-moon (30, San Diego Padres), who was not present. Moon Hyun-bin praised the bat for having a wide surface when hitting the ball, but praised Song Sung-moon for having long-shot power.

Such Song Sung-moon faced an unexpected injury. According to an official in the baseball community on the 17th, Song Sung-moon recently suffered an injury to his lateral muscles (inner abdominal muscles) during batting training in Korea.

According to Song Sung-moon's agency official, he was diagnosed by the hospital that he needed more than four weeks to resume training, and is currently receiving intensive treatment at the Ijima Treatment Center in Yokohama, Japan.

Song Sung-moon, who debuted in 2015 and went through a long unknown period, has shown a huge rebound in the last two seasons, and as a result, he signed a four-year contract worth $15 million (about 22.1 billion won) with San Diego in December last year to achieve his dream of entering the U.S.

This shows how great the impact has been in the past two seasons. As he grew in size, his power improved and his overall batting index improved. Last year, he improved his completeness and won both the third baseman Golden Glove and the defense award.

In the K-baseball series held in November last year, he played in all four games against the Czech Republic and Japan with a batting average of 0.286 (4 hits in 14 at-bats), one home run, four RBIs, two runs, three walks, two steals, an on-base percentage of 0.412, a slugging percentage of 0.500 and an on-base percentage of 0.912.

In particular, against Daisuke Moriura, he made a strong impression by hitting a back-to-back home run following Ahn Hyun-min.

Song Sung-moon did not join the first camp of the national baseball team, which has been in Saipan since the 9th due to his entry into the U.S. There are also 2024 MVP Kim Do-young (KIA) and 2023 home run king Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), but if possible, there is no disagreement that the first option on third base is Song Sung-moon. This is because he has an advantage over Noh Si-hwan in hitting stability and running base, and Kim Do-young in defense.

When asked whether Song Sung-moon would join, national team coach Ryu Ji-hyun said, "I don't know now," adding, "Song Sung-moon will be classified as an overseas player from now on. "We have to approach it in a different way from domestic players, and rather than our will, the club or himself should convey our intention," he said. He wants Song to join the team, but he needs to approach it in a different way than players playing in Korea.

Song Sung-moon, who hasn't even joined San Diego yet, was cautious. After returning home after signing a contract in San Diego on the 23rd of last month, he said, "There is something I need to discuss with the club. "It's hard to give you an answer yet," he said. "If the club gives me permission, I'll also think about it, but I wasn't sure because there would be an impact on the environment or the team, and it's the same now."

The injury will require about four weeks of rehabilitation. The national team will hold the first camp until the 21st and then gather again in Okinawa, Japan, from the 15th of next month to improve its sense of practice games.

After completing the treatment during this period, Song Sung-moon will join Arizona, USA, the site of the San Diego spring camp. Major League players are difficult to join the second camp due to club circumstances, but their presence is so clear that they could also consider joining the second round in the United States, even if it could be difficult to play in the first round in Japan.

San Diego General Manager A.J. Preller also told local reporters, "We continue to talk about WBC with Song Sung-moon. "Our club is always actively supporting what the players want, including whether they will play in the WBC or not," he said.

The problem is that Song Sung-moon was injured, making it more difficult to appeal to the club to participate in the WBC. It is fortunate that it is not a major injury, but it has become difficult for the club to readily accept Song Sung-moon's participation in the WBC, who had already suffered one injury ahead of the season.

Citing domestic media's report on Song Sung-moon's injury, Japanese media Full Count also noted, "The departure at this time ahead of the Major League camp is an unexpected bad news for myself, San Diego and the Korean national team."

In Saipan camp, Noh Si-hwan, Kim Do-young and Moon Bo-kyung (LG) are fiercely competing to join the final entry. All three are great players, so you can make a choice considering your condition and utility. Of course, it is difficult to say that the possibility of Song Sung-moon's final joining has completely disappeared. However, it is true that the eyes have become more focused on those who are already training in the national team.

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*This content was translated by AI.