“Have they forgotten Ryu Hyun-jin’s harsh words?”... From last year’s “self-destruction via 23 walks and hit batters” to now, what has actually changed? The embarrassing reality of searching for “scenarios” after two losses [APBC]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

It is “scenarios” again. While it is fortunate that there is still hope despite two losses, a bitter taste remains. The “excessive walks and hit batters” experienced in the same venue one year ago has once again boomeranged back.

The Korean national baseball team lost 5-9 to Japan in the second preliminary match of the 2026 Asia Pro Baseball Championship (APBC) held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 13th.

After suffering a 7-8 comeback loss to Australia on the 12th, Korea fell into a two-game losing streak by this point. Nevertheless, depending on the result of the match against Taiwan scheduled for 7 p.m. on the 14th, there is still a chance to aim for the final. To advance to the final and break the chain of 12 consecutive losses to Japan, it is necessary to carefully examine the “mistake notebook.”

After playing a two-game series against the Czech Republic in last year’s K-Baseball Series, the Korean national baseball team traveled to Japan to take on a two-game series on enemy territory. At that time, Korea collapsed by issuing a whopping 23 walks and hit batters across the two games.

Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), who had been watching this closely, conveyed after being called up for training with the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, “If we lose because we were hit by home runs, there is nothing to be done, but I will talk a lot about not creating difficult momentum through walks.”

Unfortunately, although a year has passed, the situation has not changed much. Korea harvested a gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, but in the APBC, where professional-level players participated, it returned to square one.

In the match against Australia on the 12th, starting pitcher Kim Min-jun (SSG) issued consecutive walks in the first inning to load the bases and allowed a three-run home run to Blake Caverly (Sydney). Considering that they created a six-run big inning in the middle of the game and narrowly lost 7-8, the two fatal walks given up early in the game felt extremely painful.

The same was true on this day. Park Si-won (LG), who took the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning while maintaining a two-run deficit of 1-3, issued a walk to leadoff batter Masaki Tomoya (SoftBank) and then allowed a two-run home run to Muneyama Rui (Rakuten). He was removed from the game without recording a single out, handing the ball over to Woo Kang-hoon (LG).

It seemed as if “the 8th inning of promise” would be staged again. In the top of the 8th inning, Korea’s leadoff batter Kim Do-young (KIA) walked, and on An Hyun-min’s (KT) ground ball, both the batter and the runner were safe. Following Han Dong-hee’s (Lotte) one-run RBI hit, Kim Hwi-jip (NC) hit a tying three-run home run, bringing the game back to a tie.

However, the joy did not last long. Relief pitcher Kim Young-woo (LG) issued an intentional walk on the first pitch to leadoff batter Hasegawa Shinya (Seibu). Although he recorded two outs well afterward, he allowed two consecutive balls to Masaki and ultimately chose an automatic intentional walk from an unfavorable count. He then allowed a decisive three-run home run to Muneyama, who came to bat next. With two outs, they only needed to get Masaki out, but they were dragged into an unfavorable count battle and had no choice but to issue the intentional walk. In the at-bat against Muneyama as well, pitches 1 and 2 were both balls, and pitch 3, thrown to gain a count advantage, became the opponent’s prey.

Although they managed to turn the momentum around with difficulty, they gave up runs too easily and even allowed additional points. In a situation where the gap widened to four runs in an instant, the top of the 9th inning offense also ended powerlessly.

Despite suffering two losses, ironically, hope for advancing to the final remains. If Japan defeats Australia on the 14th to reach the final first with three wins, and Korea then defeats Taiwan, there is a way to rank ahead of Taiwan and Australia, who would be tied at one win and two losses, based on the Team Quality Balance (TQB). A victory by four or more runs guarantees advancement to the final, and depending on how Japan defeats Australia, simply beating Taiwan could also lead to a spot in the final.

The fact that there is still an opportunity to recover is encouraging. However, the failures of the first and second matches must be firmly reflected upon. In two games, they committed 15 walks and hit batters, resulting in the painful outcome of allowing 17 runs.

They boarded the plane to Japan with the goal of winning the championship, but the APBC tournament was originally established not only for exchange between participating countries but also to provide more opportunities for promising players and support their growth. Coaches say that even when losing, one must achieve a “defeat from which something is learned.” In that sense, losses caused by frequent walks leave only bitterness rather than realization. Regardless of the results, in order to grow healthily in line with the spirit of the tournament, they need to show an attitude of fighting more boldly in the remaining two games.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.View Original