A Taiwanese reporter who is curious about the selection of Korea said in Korean, "Is it Ryu Hyun-jin? Is it Kwak Bin?"

*This content was translated by AI.

"Has Korea's starting pitcher been decided yet? Is it Ryu Hyun-jin or Kwak Bin?"

The site of the Tokyo Dome in Japan, where the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals are being held. After Taiwan beat the Czech Republic 14-0 at 12 p.m. on the 7th, Taiwanese reporters now expressed their curiosity about South Korea's starting pitcher. This is because the starting pitcher for Taiwan against South Korea on the 8th has been confirmed as right-handed ace Gurin Lui Yang (26, Nippon-Ham Fighters), who is actually active in the Japanese professional baseball (NPB).

Whenever Taiwanese media reporters met with Korean reporters, they asked, "Who's the starter?" as if they had promised. Even specific names were mentioned. I asked if it was Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) and Kwak Bin (27, Doosan Bears). Asked persistently by Taiwanese media, Star News said, "I don't know. First of all, we need to see the pitching operation against Japan on the evening of the 7th."

It is clear why Taiwanese media are so obsessed with South Korea's starting pitcher. This is because the showdown between South Korea and Taiwan in the group qualifying round of this tournament is the biggest showdown that will determine the direction of advancing to the quarterfinals. Since he survived by catching the Czech Republic immediately after two consecutive losses, if he catches Korea, he will be able to achieve two wins and two losses and a 50% winning rate. Depending on the starting pitcher, the Taiwanese national team's batting order and attack method will inevitably be completely different.

Since February, Taiwanese media have been scrambling to predict Ryu Hyun-jin or Kwak Bin's appearance in the match against Taiwan. The rationale was the interval between pitches. It is a natural scenario to take a five-day break after taking the mound on March 2 and then play in the showdown on the 8th. In fact, both Kwak Bin and Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound against the Hanshin Tigers on March 2.

Taiwan seems to be concerned about Ryu Hyun-jin's "strong performance against Taiwan." In the past, Ryu Hyun-jin had a reputation as a "Taiwan killer" by completely blocking Taiwan's batters at major international competitions such as the 2007 Beijing Olympics qualifying round and the 2009 WBC. In 2009, in the first round of the WBC against Taiwan, he showed a perfect pitch of three scoreless innings at the same place, Tokyo Dome. South Korea also defeated Taiwan 9-0 at the time.

With variables such as Korea-Japan match results and restrictions on the number of pitches remaining, the Korean bench's "su fight" is expected to worry Taiwanese reporters until just before the game.

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*This content was translated by AI.