Nat′l baseball staff high on youngsters for Asian Games

Nat'l baseball staff high on youngsters for Asian Games: Baseball / 유지호 / 2023-06-09 15:28:25

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▲ Cho Kye-hyeon (L), head of the South Korean national baseball competitiveness enhancement committee, and Ryu Joong-il, South Korea manager for the 2023 Asian Games, attend a press conference announcing the 24-man roster for the Asian Games at the Korea Baseball Organization headquarters in Seoul on June 9, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ Ryu Joong-il, manager for the South Korean national baseball team at the 2023 Asian Games, speaks at a press conference announcing his 24-man roster at the Korea Baseball Organization headquarters in Seoul on June 9, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ Cho Kye-hyeon, head of the South Korean national baseball competitiveness enhancement committee, speaks at a press conference announcing the 24-man roster for the 2023 Asian Games at the Korea Baseball Organization headquarters in Seoul on June 9, 2023. (Yonhap)

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Nat'l baseball staff high on youngsters for Asian Games

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- While scouting players for South Korea's roster for the Asian Games baseball tournament this fall, national team technical chief Cho Kye-hyeon and manager Ryu Joong-il were both sold on the talent of the country's youngsters.

And in light of a recent incident involving national team players during a recent competition, Cho and Ryu now hope young players headed to the Hangzhou Asiad will represent the country well.

The two announced the 24-man squad for the Hangzhou tournament on Friday. At the onset of their presser, Ryu first apologized to fans, on behalf of the national baseball community, for a recent incident from the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March.

Three Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) players -- SSG Landers pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun, NC Dinos pitcher Lee Yong-chan and Doosan Bears pitcher Jeong Cheol-won -- were fined and ordered to do community service earlier this week, after they were found to have visited a nightlife establishment in Tokyo for drinks during the WBC. While the trio didn't violate any rules, they were still criticized for not upholding the honor and dignity of the national flag while representing the country. South Korea ended up getting eliminated in the first round.

Cho stressed that playing for the country, regardless of the level of competition, should be accompanied by "a sense of responsibility."

"I am sure these young players had a lot to think about, after watching the WBC situation play out," Cho said. "I hope they will learn from it. And we as a staff also wanted to instill in them a sense of pride for representing the nation."

In the hope of developing young talent, South Korea has placed a self-imposed age limit of 25 on the Asian Games team. All but three players were born in 1998 or later, and even the three overage members are all under 30. At an average age of 23.21 years old, this is the second-youngest Asian Games squad for South Korea since it started sending professionals in 1998.

Ryu said he wants to make baseball fans forget about the WBC disaster and give them something to cheer about this fall.

"After the early elimination at the WBC, these Asian Games will be the next international event, and our goal is to win the gold medal," Ryu said. "I will make sure the players and the coaching staff will all trust one another, so that we can bring home some good news."

Ryu will do so with only three natural outfielders, though one of them includes the reigning KBO MVP Lee Jung-hoo. Ryu said some of his seven infielders can also handle outfield defense, including the versatile Kim Hye-seong, who can play second base, shortstop, third base and left field.

Cho said the catcher position was the most difficult to fill for his staff, given the lack of depth in the under-25 age group. Ultimately, Cho went with Kim Hyung-jun, the 23-year-old backstop for the NC Dinos, and Kim Dong-heon, the 19-year-old rookie for the Kiwoom Heroes.

Kim has 159 KBO games to his credit. He suffered a torn ligament in his right knee last August and has only returned to action on the minor circuit, the Futures League, on May 12.

Cho said he liked what he'd seen from Kim earlier in his KBO career. As for Kim Dong-heon, who has appeared in 39 games this season, Cho said, "Though he is still young, we felt we could still take him and help him get his feet wet in preparation for the 2026 WBC."

There is one other teenager on the national team: Masan Yongma High School pitcher Jang Hyun-seok.

The 19-year-old right-hander is seen as a likely No. 1 overall choice at this year's KBO draft. He has touched 156 kilometers per hour (96.9 miles per hour) with his fastball, and has gone 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA in 17.1 innings this season. He has struck out 29 and given up only three hits against 66 batters.

"We've been keeping an eye on him since March, and when it comes to command, velocity and game management, he received the highest marks among all amateur candidates from our staff," Cho said. "With this selection, we also wanted to give young prospects something to dream about for the future."

(END)