“A Shocking Loss Every Tournament”: Is Korea’s Baseball Truly Just “Domestic-Level” Skill? [APBC]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The Korean national baseball team has suffered another “shocking loss.”

The team, led by Manager Choi Won-ho (53), fell in a come-from-behind 7-8 defeat to Australia, a team considered inferior in strength, in the first preliminary match of the 2026 Asia Pro Baseball Championship (APBC) held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 12th. Korea, aiming for its first championship title, is now in a position where it must win both remaining games against Japan (on the 13th) and Taiwan (on the 14th) to even hope for a spot in the final.

It has become almost customary for the Korean national baseball team to suffer unexpected defeats in international tournaments. This includes being swept 0-5 by the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2013, suffering consecutive losses to Israel (1-2) and the Netherlands (0-5) in 2017, and losing 7-8 to Australia in 2023, resulting in a third consecutive first-round elimination. In September, the team also suffered a complete 0-5 defeat against Japan, which was composed of amateur baseball players, in the Super Round of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The pattern of these “shocking losses” is usually similar. First, batters often struggle against unfamiliar or unknown opposing pitchers. The same was true in this game against Australia. Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers), Han Dong-hee (Lotte Giants), and Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha Eagles), all prominent players in the KBO League, combined for no hits and surrendered a total of 7 strikeouts.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, trailing 6-8 with runners on second and third and a chance to tie the game, Kim Do-young hit a right fielder sacrifice fly on the second pitch, while An Hyun-min (KT Wiz) flew out to the second baseman on the third pitch, forcing Korea to accept a one-run loss. The Korean lineup managed 7 hits and 5 walks against Australia’s 8 pitchers but struck out 10 times.

Pitchers often give up extra-base hits and walks due to poor control and a lack of decisive pitches. The seven Korean pitchers who took the mound in this game against Australia allowed a total of 7 walks. In particular, out of 10 hits allowed, a staggering 8 were extra-base hits (2 home runs, 6 doubles). This indicates that their pitches were monotonous and clustered in the middle of the plate.

Regarding why Korean baseball performs poorly especially in the first game of international tournaments, a baseball figure who is a former professional baseball manager said coldly, “The opposing team is under the same conditions. Ultimately, that is skill. Our batters couldn’t hit, and their pitchers pitched well.”

There are also regrets regarding the bench’s game management. International tournaments are short series similar to the professional baseball postseason. They require an all-out effort with the resolve that “if you lose, there is no tomorrow,” necessitating pitcher changes one tempo earlier.

However, in the game against Australia, the national team’s coaching staff did not make substitutions until relief pitcher Park Jeong-min (Lotte) threw 36 pitches and Choi Jun-yong (Lotte) threw 32 pitches, even after successfully coming back to lead 6-4. Ultimately, Park Jeong-min allowed a tying two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, and Choi Jun-yong gave up two runs on two doubles in the top of the ninth inning before finally leaving the mound.

In contrast, the Japanese national baseball team, which boasts being the strongest in Asia, rarely suffers defeats described as “unexpected poor performances” or “falls to dark horses.” In this tournament as well, Japan easily defeated Taiwan 5-0 in its first game and is cruising toward a third consecutive championship title.

The KBO League has enjoyed its best boom, surpassing 10 million spectators for the regular season for three consecutive years. However, continued poor performance in international tournaments is pouring cold water on the hot popularity of baseball, risking the stigma that star players’ skills are merely “domestic-level.” It is time for the entire baseball community to consider how to achieve qualitative development alongside external growth.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original