"Oh, my God!' "Kikuchi, the 35-year-old Korea-Japan match of the Korea-Japan match, debuts in MLB 1000K"! The rotation of the WBC in March has already been confirmed

*This content was translated by AI.

In March, the Japanese starting pitcher who faced the World Baseball Classic (WBC) destiny rival 'Korea-Japan match' was decided. But he's an unexpected person. Veteran left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (35, Los Angeles Angels), who has surpassed 1,000 strikeouts in the Major League Baseball (MLB), is said to be on the mound at the age of 35 for the first time in Korea-Japan match. Yamamoto Yoshinobu (28, LA Dodgers), who drew attention, will take a break for the tournament in the U.S. after facing Taiwan.

According to multiple media, including Japan's Sports Hochi, on the 18th, Japanese national team coach Hirokazu Ibata (50) confirmed the rotation of the first round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan in March and delivered it to the players. The most eye-catching part is the selection against Korea at Tokyo Dome on March 7. The main character is Yusei Kikuchi.

Kikuchi is a big leaguer that doesn't need an explanation. Since the 2019 season, he has played in the Major League Baseball and has gone through four clubs, including the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Angels, and has proved his pitching by striking out more than 1,000 in total.

However, Kikuchi had no relationship with the Japanese national team. Although he played for eight seasons as a member of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Seibu Lions, he was not selected due to the thick pitching lineup, and was nominated for the 2023 WBC tournament, but failed to join the team. Eventually, at the not-so-small age of 35, he coincidentally made his 'late national college debut' in Korea-Japan match.

Manager Ibata declared an all-out war from the beginning for the top spot in the group. In the first game, against Taiwan on March 6, "Dodgers ace" Yoshinobu Yamamoto was deployed to gain the upper hand, and the next day, he blocked the Korean batters with Kikuchi. The plan is to deploy Tomoyuki Sugano (37, Colorado Rockies) to the match against Australia on the 8th to confirm his advance to the quarterfinals early with three consecutive wins regardless of the match against the Czech Republic.

In an interview with Japanese media, Ibata said, "It's important to put on the first button well," adding, "Kikuchi has a lot of experience and is the right person to overwhelm Korean batters in terms of ball power." In fact, since early February, there have been many left-handed hitters playing in the Major League, including Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants) and Kim Hye-sung (27, LA Dodgers), so the possibility of Kikuchi's selection has been steadily raised.

Nevertheless, Ibata did not lose his prudence. Referring to the recent incident in which U.S. national team Ilya Malinin (22), a strong favorite in figure skating at the Milan Winter Olympics, fell to the final eighth place after finishing first in the short program, "I felt the fear of sports once again. "I'm a defending champion, but I'll do it with the heart of a challenger," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani (32) of the major leagues will soon join the Japanese national team, which is camping in Miyazaki. He is also expected to play in practice games according to his internal schedule.

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*This content was translated by AI.