*This content was translated by AI.
He also won a perfect showdown with Walker Buehler (32, San Diego Padres), once the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Healthy Koo Chang-mo (29, NC Dinos) was an opportunity to gain confidence that he could work anytime, anywhere.
Koo Chang-mo started a practice game against the San Diego Minor Team at Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona on the 1st (Korea Standard Time) and pitched three innings of one hit, one walk, and four strikeouts.
Koo Chang-mo, who wore an NC uniform as the third-ranked player in the second round of the 2015 rookie draft, has never been disappointed since 2019, when he won his first double-digit victory.
Koo Chang-mo, who won 10 games that year, played 9 games in the first half of the year with an ERA of 1.74 before his injury in 2020, and led the team to victory that year. Since then, he has played the role of an ace with 11 wins, 5 losses and ERA 2.10 even after returning to the operating table after skipping a season due to fatigue fractures in the forearm of his left arm. After the end of the season, he hit a multi-year contract of non-FA for up to seven years and 13.2 billion won.
However, he failed to help the team properly afterwards. Injuries continued in the left arm, and the Armed Forces Sports Unit (Sangmu) was discharged from the military without playing virtually any games. Last year, he played from the second half of the year, recording one win and ERA 2.51 in four games, and gave his team a victory with six innings of three strikeouts, one run and perfect pitching against Samsung in the wild card game.
Although he was determined to participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), the club expressed a cautious position to the national team because he suffered so much from injuries. Even the national team, which lacks left-handers, did not select Koo Chang-mo in recognition of this situation.
While key starting resources such as Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha) and Won Tae-in (Samsung) left, Koo Chang-mo's good pitching naturally led to regret what it would have been like if Koo was in the national team.
On this day, NC formed a lineup of Shin Jae-in (first baseman), Oh Jang-han (catcher), Park Min-woo (second baseman), Matt Davidson (designated hitter), Lee Woo-sung (left fielder), Seo Ho-cheol (third baseman), Kim Hui-jip (striker), Kim Jung-ho (catcher), and Kwon Hee-dong (right fielder). The starting pitcher is Koo Chang-mo.
San Diego has set up a starting lineup of Jackson (third baseman), Quintana (striker), Dupree (catcher), Capacios (right fielder), Harvey (designated hitter), Fountain (first baseman), Tiers (left fielder), wide man (center fielder), and Verdugo (second baseman). The starting pitcher was Walker Buehler.
It was Buehler who caught the eye the most. Buehler, who played as a key pitcher for Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), Clayton Kershaw (retired) and the Los Angeles Dodgers, went downhill after his second elbow surgery and signed a minor league contract with San Diego ahead of this season. This spring camp is an important stage to show that you are in good shape to make your name on the opening roster.
Buehler, who took the mound first, was not what he was in his prime. Shin Jae-in had an infield hit, Oh Jang-han had a hit to the right, and Park Min-woo gave up a run on a fly ball to right field. He then struck out Lee Woo-sung with a swing and miss after receiving an RBI timely hit from Davison, but after allowing a hit to Seo Ho-chul and a walk to Kim Hwi-jip, he passed the ball without finishing the inning. During ⅔ innings, he was substituted with a humble performance of four hits, one walk, one strikeout, and two runs.
On the other hand, Koo Chang-mo was relentless even against players who commanded the minor leagues. Before leaving the spring camp, he said, "I'm looking forward to myself," adding, "This year, my goal is to be first together from the beginning, so I'll prepare well to recreate the championship once again in 2020. My goal is to play full season," he said.
I finished my preparation well and I was able to confirm that against San Diego. He walked the first batter in the first inning, but struck out Quintana with a swing and miss, and put Dupree and Capacios to rest with consecutive miscues to end the first inning.
In the second inning, he struck out Harvey and Fountain in a row and had a heavy hit by Teers, but struck out the wide man again to end the inning. In the third inning, he finished with a clean three-out. The maximum speed was 145 kilometers per hour.
Koo Chang-mo will take a step back from Riley Thompson, Toda Natsuki and Kim Nok-won to prepare for the exhibition game.
In the game, Oh Jang-han made 3 hits and 1 RBI in 4 at-bats and Seo Ho-cheol made 2 hits in 5 at-bats. On the mound, Kim Jin-ho pitched one inning with one walk and three strikeouts, and Jeon Sa-min pitched one inning with one strikeout. The match ended in an 8-8 draw.
Coach Lee Ho-joon was also satisfied. "Today's game was a great opportunity for us. In the KBO League, opposing one-two punches are usually foreign pitchers, and it was meaningful in that they faced such pitchers first, he said. "In particular, I think my experience with starting pitchers and must-win pitchers who have been active in the Major League for a long time has helped me greatly increase my sense of practice."
"The part we prepared was also well done overall. In the attack, the hit came out as planned, and the base run was a process of matching hands and feet, but the bold attempts were good, he said. "I've been raising my sense of the game through the Blue and White games, but the players' concentration was clearly different today. As the concentration increased, the game also showed good performance," he said, expressing satisfaction.
NC plays a series of practice games against MLB teams with Davison's help. He will play the Chicago White Sox on the 2nd and the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 3rd, before returning home after completing his spring camp schedule.
Meanwhile, Davison ended his CAMP 2 schedule early to join the Canadian national team at the WBC after the match.
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*This content was translated by AI.
