"Moon Hyun-bin is the best contact hitter in Korea → Koo Ja-wook has one shot, so he can use various situations." Cho Gye-hyun declared the conclusion of the debate

*This content was translated by AI.

Cho Gye-hyun (62), chairman of the Korean baseball team in 2026 WBC, left an explanation of the composition of the outfield entry. Chairman Cho showed strong trust in Moon Hyun-bin (22, Hanwha Eagles) and Koo Ja-wook (33, Samsung Lions) in a question-and-answer session that followed shortly after the announcement of the final entry.

Chairman Cho Kye-hyun and WBC national team coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55) held a press conference at the press center in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on the morning of the 6th to explain the background of the selection of 30 national team entries.

Ahead of the announcement, the composition of the outfield received a lot of attention. In fact, Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants) has virtually secured the starting lineup for center field, while right-handed hitter Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT Wiz) is likely to be the starting lineup. This is because Moon Hyun-bin, Koo Ja-wook and Hong Chang-ki (LG Twins) were competing for the left-handed outfielder position. It became a hot potato because they were similar types of hitters. Jamai Jones (29, Detroit Tigers), a Korean-American player in the Major League, and Park Hae-min (36, LG Twins), who has the best defense ability in Korea, were close to the outside.

Chairman Cho said, "Moon Hyun-bin is the best contact hitter in Korea, despite the fact that no related questions have been asked about these debates. Koo Ja-wook also left an explanation, saying, "He is a batter who can be used in various situations during the game because he is a typewriter with a single shot." This is interpreted as reflecting the reinforcement committee's intention to place resources with certain "tool" in the right place in accordance with the characteristics of short-term warfare rather than simply relying on name values.

Coach Ryu Ji-hyun also said of the players who were not included in the final entry, such as Hong Chang-ki, "There are some players who trained in Saipan who were not included in the final list. Before entering Saipan, when I saw the preparation process or training, I thought I prepared too well. As a result, I would like to say thank you and sorry to the players who did not make the entry. Someone was in a situation where they had to get out. I also want to say thank you more to the players for understanding those parts," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.