Cy Young's second-place left-hander aimed at 韓야구 baseball, "Friends who play in SF are threatening → I don't know well, but..."

*This content was translated by AI.

The card that the Dominican Republic took out against South Korea in the single-round match, which was destined to advance to the quarterfinals, was the "best left-hander in the active major leagues." Christopher Sanchez (30, Philadelphia Phillies), who is second in the Major League National League Cy Young Award in the 2025 season, will play against South Korea / vs. Korea. Sanchez expressed caution by referring to Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants).

The Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), will play against the Dominican Republic in the 2026 WBC (World Baseball Classic) quarterfinals at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida at 7:30 a.m. on the 14th (Korea time).

Sanchez, who held an official press conference on the 13th, a day before the game, declared a head-to-head match, even though he cited Lee Jung-hoo (28) as the only target of caution. Sanchez said, "I don't know much about the other team (Korea)," but expressed confidence, "It will be a variable that I will also face them for the first time as the opponent doesn't know me, but I will pitch aggressively with my strengths, sinker and changeup."

Sanchez is a left-hander who started all 32 games for Philadelphia in the 2025 season and has a record of 13 wins, 5 losses and a 2.50 ERA. He is ranked second in Cy Young after U.S. national pitcher Paul Skins (Pittsburgh Pirates).

The reason Sanchez is scary is that he is never weak against right-handed hitters even though he is left-handed. The high-speed sinker, which can reach a maximum speed of 99 miles per hour (about 159.3 kilometers) and an average speed of 95.4 miles (about 153.5 kilometers), is said to be enough to break batters' bats. In particular, the change-up thrown against right-handed hitters has a swing-and-miss rate of 45.1%.

In fact, it was also observed that Dominica would save Sanchez in preparation for the semifinals, where the U.S. (a showdown with Canada), which is more powerful than South Korea, is likely to come up. Sanchez played in the first Group D match against Nicaragua on the 7th. But Pujols' choice was different. Due to the nature of the quarter-final tournament, which is held as a single-round match, it was decided to put the strongest "shield" into the against South Korea / vs. Korea first to ensure a certain victory. If you are eliminated from the quarterfinals, there will be no semifinals, so it is a natural step in a way.

Sanchez, who was in trouble against Nicaragua with six hits and three runs in one ⅓ inning, responded, "In the first game, there were several mistakes in control of the ball. But now, the chemistry with the team members is much better and the belief in each other is stronger. Tomorrow, I will keep my composure on the mound and throw the ball as planned," he said.

Earlier, in the final match of the first round against Venezuela on the 12th, Dominica bombed the Venezuelan mound by hitting four home runs out of the team's 11 hits. South Korea is literally on the verge of "overlapping mountains" as Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have added an iron wall mound called Sanchez to the lineup that gives fear just by their names.

In order for South Korea to win against Dominica, which has built its strongest power, the key is how persistent Sanchez's high-speed sinker and tricky change-up are. Attention is focusing on whether Korean baseball will be able to destroy the Cy Young Award ace and prove the adage that "the ball is round" in Miami, where the eyes of global baseball fans are focused.

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*This content was translated by AI.