"It's difficult because of my current physical condition."" 163km of Korean Big Leaguer Korea 'finally' failed to join the quarterfinals, and Ryu Ji-hyun-ho will play in the second round without one. [2026 WBC]

*This content was translated by AI.

Ryu Ji-hyun (55) of the Korean national baseball team has finally failed to join Korean major leaguer Riley O'Brien (31, St. Louis Cardinals).

A KBO official told Star News on the 12th, "O'Brien said that it is difficult to join the national team due to his current physical condition. As a result of the national team's coaching meeting, it has been finally confirmed that he will not join the team," he said.

O'Brien is one of the most highly anticipated Korean major leagues in the WBC. He is an active big leaguer right-hander with 3 wins, 1 loss, 6 saves, a 2.06 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 48 innings in St. Louis last year with a maximum speed of 101 miles per hour (about 163 km).

Son Joo-young (28, LG Twins), who was substituted for an elbow injury in Group C against Australia in the first round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 9th.

However, I felt sorry for my poor physical condition. O'Brien refused to join the Korean national team due to pain in his right calf while pitching a bullpen at the St. Louis spring camp on the 15th of last month. At that time, he was expected to join the KBO after recovering from his injury, showing his willingness by sending a long text message to express regret.

Director Ryu Ji-hyun also said at the time of O'Brien's fall, "It's been in some articles, but as far as I know, even O'Brien's family had great expectations. So I prepared hard, but it's a pity. He said he would really go there if there was another opportunity, but his sincerity was felt when he met me twice.

It is true that O'Brien has recently returned. In the Major League exhibition game against the New York Mets on the 11th, he was sluggish with four walks and one run in ⅔ innings. The ball with a maximum speed of 99.2 miles per hour (about 159.6km) remained, but the ball control was so bad that 16 of the 27 pitches were balls.

In the end, Ryu Ji-hyun decided to play the quarterfinals with a 29-member squad without O'Brien. Son Joo-young, who returned home en route to Korea due to an elbow injury, has also decided not to fill the vacancy. The national team headed to Miami on a chartered flight provided by the Major League Baseball Secretariat on the 11th will play the quarterfinals against the top of Group D at 7:30 a.m. on the 14th at Rondipo Park in Miami.

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*This content was translated by AI.