"Baseball is not increasing." Kwak Bin → I want to ask Ryu Hyun-jin how to be good at baseball. Will he become a "real pitcher" through WBC

*This content was translated by AI.

"I realized that baseball is really not improving."

Kwak Bin (27), a right-handed starting resource representing the KBO League and a native ace for the Doosan Bears, was still not satisfied with himself. He is using national team training as an opportunity for growth with the mindset that he can grow that much more.

Kwak Bin is participating in the first camp of the national baseball team in Saipan from the 9th to the 21st in preparation for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March.

He complained of side pain just before the opening of last year, and the pain in this area was not easily resolved, so he only started the season in June, but Kwak Bin instilled a threat to hitters with various breaking balls with the ball in the late 150km range.

But there is still a lack of confidence in himself. This is because I want to improve my skills that much. The final entry of the WBC must be submitted by the 3rd of next month, but Kwak Bin said, "If I don't get selected for the final entry, I think I'll recognize my skills," adding, "It's probably because I didn't do it last season and I'm lacking a lot." I think that will be more stimulating," he said.

It is an ace trusted by Doosan and a right-hander starting resource representing the league, but it is not satisfied yet. Kwak Bin, who had his first three-point ERA (ERA) since playing the full-time season in 2022, had his best year with 12 wins and ERA 2.90 the following year. In 2024, he tied for first in multiple wins with 15 wins (nine losses), but ERA was slightly higher at 4.24, and last year, he took the mound in only 19 games due to injury, leaving a regret with 5-7 losses and ERA 4.20.

The same was true of his performance in the national team. In the 2023 WBC, he allowed three runs in two innings in two games, and in the Hangzhou Asian Games, he had to watch the gold medal harvest without playing a single game due to back pain.

In the K-baseball series, which ended last season, he started in both games and played five ⅓ innings, but unlike the Czech Republic, which recorded four strikeouts with no hits in two innings, he did well in the third inning against Japan, but was replaced after allowing a walk and consecutive hits in the fourth inning, and the number of runs increased to three as all successors homered.

Kwak Bin said, "I started the warm-up match with a lot of confidence, but the results were not good, so I felt that there were still too many shortcomings," adding, "I think I'm strict with myself because I'm a perfectionist."

I have a great desire to develop further. Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha), who joined the national team for the first time in 16 years, has a lot to ask. Many pitchers covet Ryu Hyun-jin's changeups and curves, but Kwak Bin's thoughts are different.

Kwak Bin said, "Since young players ask a lot, I thought it would be burdensome and difficult for me to ask. "If I have a chance, I want to learn how to be good at baseball," he said. "These days, I think the speed should be faster. Of course, the speed is important, but the ball is getting better, so I thought why the performance is the same or bad, but I realized after the season that 'I'm not improving my baseball skills'. So now I want to learn a lot and play baseball as if I'm improving a lot," he said.

Looking at Ryu Hyun-jin's pitching, I want to resemble him the most I felt something else. Kwak Bin said, "I want to learn how to manage a crisis or how to deal with a batter. He created a situation during the game. The starting pitcher has to design and throw, but I just feel like throwing according to the signature. On days when it works well, it throws well, but on days when it gets stuck, it often collapses. I think that restraint and ball control are supportive, and I want to learn those tricks," he said.

It is still in the process of growth because it started slower than others. He started pitching in his third year of high school and joined Doosan as the first designated player in 2018, but lost time until 2020 with rehabilitation after throwing 32 games.

"That's why I think I'm growing slower than others," Kwak Bin said. "I think everything else is okay, but I thought my growth in how to fight was a little slow when I had to deal with batters as a pitcher," he said. "I want to grow in that area without being obsessed with arrest."

Therefore, expectations for the WBC cannot be hidden further. Kwak Bin said that WBC can be an opportunity for a very big growth, and Kwak Bin said, "My grades have improved since 2023, but my fear disappeared when I left WBC for the first time. I thought, 'What's scary about dealing with these hitters?' I'm sure my mind has completely changed," he said.

"I don't just want to be a pitcher who throws a ball, but I want to be a pitcher who knows how to fight the batter like a pitcher in international competitions, no matter what condition he or she is in. I want to learn what I lack again," he added.

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*This content was translated by AI.