유지호
| 2023-03-03 14:30:20
(LEAD) baseball players-training
(LEAD) In lieu of game action, big leaguers Kim, Edman take live batting practice in WBC prep
(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead, photos; UPDATES throughout with practice results, comments)
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's only two major leaguers for the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC) took live batting practice Friday afternoon in Seoul, having been ruled out of an informal scrimmage scheduled for later in the day.
Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres and Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals faced live pitching starting at 1 p.m. at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, against right-hander Won Tae-in and left-hander Koo Chang-mo.
Starting at 5 p.m., the national team was to take on the minor league affiliate of the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at the dome. But Kim and Edman aren't eligible for that occasion because it's not an official, pre-WBC exhibition game.
Manager Lee Kang-chul said after Thursday's workout that the game will be shortened from the scheduled 10 innings to nine innings, in order to allow Kim and Edman to have live practice.
Lee's plan was to have each batter face about 15 pitches apiece.
They ended up seeing far more pitches, with Koo throwing 35 pitches and Won offering 37 pitches.
Kim and Edman took turns in stepping into the box, with Edman, a switch hitter, getting a chance to swing from both side of the plate. Both hitters had eight plate appearances. Kim was 0-for-3 with a walk against Koo and 2-for-4 against Won. Edman had a hit in three tries against Koo and a hit in five at-bats against Won.
Kim made solid contact from early on, while Edman, who was facing KBO pitchers for the first time, looked a bit rusty early before making some solid contact later.
Edman, whose last spring training game for the Cardinals was Sunday, said he was glad to get some at-bats after some time away from game action.
"Both guys had good off-speed stuff and pretty good fastball at the top of the zone," Edman said of Koo and Won, adding he saw fastballs, changeups, sliders, curveballs, and splitters. "They just throw a lot of different pitches and do a good job of keeping you off balance and throw strikes."
Kim said he was impressed with Koo's fastball and Won's changeup in particular.
"The session went pretty well. In some at-bats, I tried to be aggressive," Kim said. "But there were also times when I tried to stay patient and look at different pitches."
Kim and Edman didn't participate in South Korea's training camp in Tucson, Arizona, last month, due to their club commitments. They instead got into a couple of spring training games to prepare for both their big league seasons and the tournament.
The two will be eligible for South Korea's two final exhibitions in Osaka next week: against the Orix Buffaloes on Monday and the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday.
Edman said that should be more than enough to get him ready for the WBC.
"I'm glad I was able to get eight at-bats today, just to kind of speed up the process a little bit," Edman said. "Definitely, I'll be ready by the time next week comes around."
Kim said he didn't want to make any excuse over not having enough game action before the tournament.
"I just have to work that much harder in practice," Kim said. "Today, the coaching staff was kind enough to arrange this live batting practice session, and I think it helped a great deal."
The national team is scheduled to depart for Osaka on Saturday afternoon.
Its first Pool B game is next Thursday against Australia at Tokyo Dome.
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