The KBO held a press conference at the KBO Hall in Dogok-dong on the 4th and confirmed and announced a list of 30 Taegeuk fighters to participate in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held in March. It is only necessary to submit the final entry by February 7, but the announcement was brought forward to prepare the players for the competition. Relatively fast pace compared to other countries.
Except for Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom), who was not selected due to controversy, there is no special noise in the selection of the national team. It can be interpreted as meaning that worthy players were selected. However, players who were not selected for the national team despite good results last year have no choice but to be left with regret. Choi Ji-hoon (26‧SSG) and Moon Bo-kyung (23‧LG) are representative cases.
The two players were very active in their respective seats last year and received the love of the fans. Choi Ji-hoon appeared in all 144 games of the season, hitting 0.304, 10 homers, 61 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases. Here he was recognized as one of the best outfield defenders in the league. He was outstanding in all areas of offense, defense, and state. Moon Bo-gyeong also showed a much more stable defense than expected, along with a batting average of 0.315, 9 home runs, 56 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.833 in 126 games for the season.
In terms of contribution to the team, it is no less than the players selected for the national team. If you look at the win contribution (WAR) compared to substitute players tallied by ‘Sports to I’, the KBO’s official record company, this is clearly revealed. Choi Ji-hoon recorded a WAR of 5.48, and was ranked third among domestic fielders after Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom‧8.53) and Na Seong-beom (KIA‧6.74). Choi Ji-hoon was the only player among the domestic WAR TOP 10 players who did not make it to the national team (excluding the retired Lee Dae-ho). Only Moon Bo-kyung recorded 4.02, ranking 13th among domestic players. But he drank the high tide side by side.
In fact, the national team has a fairly high entry barrier. International competitions require experience as well as skills. It is a structure in which existing players have no choice but to get priority. As it is an important tournament, the selection itself has no choice but to be conservative, and specialists must also be involved. In the case of Choi Ji-hoon, the walls of outfield leaders such as Lee Jung-hoo, Na Seong-beom, and Kim Hyun-soo were too high. Moon Bo-gyeong-do Choi Jeong and Heo Gyeong-min, veterans, were holding on.
However, there is no need to be disappointed. This is because the technical committee is known to have fully acknowledged the skills of the two players and put a lot of thought into it. In the event of an injury or personal reason, a substitute may also join. Even if they can’t go to the WBC, if they can continue last year’s flow, they are likely players to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled for September. The Asian Games, where young players will participate, do not seem to be such a high barrier to the two players.
In fact, the two players 메이저사이트 were easily included in the preliminary list announced before the postponement of the tournament, and excluding the wild card players, they achieved results worthy of being the main pillars of the team. There is no need to be disappointed. As the barrier to entry is high, it is also the stage of the national team that you can get priority if you perform well in the Asian Games. It remains to do my best to continue the current flow and wait for the choice.