*This content was translated by AI.
In the eighth inning, an unfamiliar pitcher took the mound wearing a Korean uniform. It was Koki Ishii of the Tokushima Indigo Sox of the Japanese independent league that puzzled baseball fans. In the ninth inning, his teammate Tatsuto Kobayashi finished the inning.
A practice game between the Korean national baseball team and the Orix Buffaloes took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on Thursday. With an 8-5 victory, he smiled happily ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) opening game on the 5th.
In particular, the batting lineup showed perfect performance by scoring eight points, including three home runs. The problem was the bullpen.
The bullpen started in the fourth inning after Korean pitcher Dane Dunning (Seattle) pitched three hits, one strikeout and no run during three innings.
Song Seung-ki (LG) took the mound and was shaken by giving up two walks and a hit ball, and Ko Woo-suk also allowed two walks, including a pushout walk. Kim Young-kyu (NC) and Cho Byung-hyun (SSG) also gave up two walks and Yoo Young-chan (LG). He allowed five runs in four ⅔ innings, but it was a fortunate loss compared to allowing nine outs.
Eventually, an unfamiliar face appeared in the 8th inning with 2 outs. Japanese independent league pitcher Ishii took the mound. Initially, the national team played a warm-up match against the Hanshin Tigers on the 2nd and played on the same day. With the tournament just around the corner, he managed the number of pitches, and it was the same day. The pitchers who took the mound the day before could not be used. Therefore, he had two Japanese independent league pitchers in case of an emergency.
They were players who could be fully utilized because they were just in case. The problem was the content. This is because they took the mound as a result of excessive walks and increased pitches. Coach Ryu Ji-hyun also said he planned to use it from the ninth inning after the game, but he had no choice but to use it faster than that. Even these pitchers drew bitterness by leading Korea to victory with more impressive pitches than their domestic star pitchers.
According to Japanese media such as Sponizia Nex, Orix manager Mamoru Kishida praised South Korea's batters after the game, but said, "It is true that pitchers had many walks. I think there were about nine dunes. That allowed me to get on base," he pointed out.
The national team collapsed in November last year when it allowed 23 pitches in two consecutive games against Japan in the K-baseball series. As a result, veterans Noh Kyung-eun (42, SSG) and Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha) were selected, and they stood out most with aggressive pitching in the match against Hanshin on the 2nd. However, in the game a day later, his juniors were shaken by allowing a walk.
Oh Seung-hwan, who turned into an MBC baseball commentator after retirement, said, "I sometimes think like this (from the mound). "What am I going to eat for dinner tonight?" "If you want to throw a fastball, you have to wear something like that (relaxation) so that you can wear a national team uniform," he said. Rather, he pointed out the pitchers' control problems, saying they need to empty their thoughts and throw them on the mound.
Of course, unlike in the league, ABS (automatic strike-ball judgment system) is not used, so it can be difficult to attack the zone. However, this is an excuse that can only be given in the warm-up match. He went through a practice game with KBO League teams in Okinawa and has to complete his adaptation through these two games. It is a problem that should never be repeated on the main stage.
The batting lineup was perfect and the mound also found a reliable starting resource called Dunning. The key is the bullpen. All the pitchers who commanded the league shook their control. If this problem is not improved, it will never be easy to achieve the goal of going to the U.S. in the second round.
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*This content was translated by AI.
