Korea manager hoping to see players grow at int'l baseball tournament in Tokyo
Choi Won-ho, manager of the Korean national baseball team, speaks to reporters at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, Monday, before departing for Tokyo to play in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship. Yonhap
As Korea gears up for its final international baseball tournament of the year in Tokyo this week, national team manager Choi Won-ho said Monday he wanted young players to use the event as a learning experience.
Choi led his team to the Japanese capital Monday afternoon for the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), which will run from Thursday to Sunday at Tokyo Dome. Japan, Australia and Taiwan are the three other participants.
Korea will open the tournament against Australia at noon Thursday, and play Japan at 7 p.m. Friday. Korea will then take on Taiwan at 7 p.m. Saturday. After round-robin play, the bottom two teams will meet in the third-place match at 11 a.m. Sunday, and the final will be between the top two nations at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The APBC is for players aged 24 years or younger, and teams can each bring up to three players who are between 24 and 29 years old or those with no more than three years of professional experience.
For Korea, Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) players born on Jan. 1, 2002, or later make up the bulk of the team. The over-age players must have been born on Jan. 1, 1997, or later.
"I was a bit worried that players who didn't compete in the KBO postseason would be rusty but they looked good in the two scrimmages we played last week," Choi told reporters at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul. "I expect the team to put on a strong performance at the tournament as well."
The postseason ended Sunday afternoon as the Samsung Lions defeated the KT Wiz 12-1 in clinching Game 5 of the Korean Series. Three players from the series — outfielder Kim Ji-chan and shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon for the Lions, and outfielder Ahn Hyun-min for the Wiz — are also on the APBC team, and manager Choi said the trio will be given an extra day off and join the national team in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The national team roster is highlighted by Kia Tigers superstar Kim Do-yeong, the 2024 KBO regular-season MVP who is in contention for this year's award as well. The 23-year-old led the league with 45 home runs this year and also blasted four long balls in eight postseason games.
Although Kim has batted leadoff before, including all five games for Korea at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, Choi said the top of the lineup is not the ideal spot for the slugger.
"I think he is better off batting second or third," Choi said. "I will have to first check on the condition of the players coming back from the Korean Series and determine the batting order then."
The first APBC was played in 2017. After the 2021 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the second edition was held in 2023.
In both events, Japan defeated Korea in the final. And Japan is considered the title favorite once again this year, as Korea will look to snap an 11-game losing streak against the neighboring country.
"They have some talented left-handed pitchers and Koki Yamaguchi is also someone to keep an eye on, after he hit 38 home runs this year," Choi said. "Obviously, we would love to beat Japan. But we have only so many pitchers available. We will play it by ear in our first game against Japan. I will try to get as many players into that game as possible, so that they can get firsthand experience of the high-quality baseball of Japan. I hope they can take the next step as players from this international competition."
Kim said he will try to take his own swings regardless of who is on the mound.
"I have been feeling great at the plate since the late days of the regular season and so I have been just trying to maintain that form," Kim said. "I am not tired at all because I had some time off since the end of my postseason. Scrimmages and live batting practices got me back into the groove and I will stick to the same routines once we get to Japan."
The APBC is being regarded as an audition for next year's Olympic qualifiers, but Kim said he was not looking that far down the road.
"I will not try to make too much out of this by making that connection with the Olympics. If I go out there and make the plays I am supposed to make, then good results will follow," Kim said. "We are all going there with the goal of winning the tournament and I am confident we can get it done."
Han Dong-hee, captain of the national team at age 27, also said his goal is to win the tournament, not merely gain experience.
"We may have some young guys with little international exposure, but once we take the field, we have to win no matter what," the infielder for the Lotte Giants said. "We will not be just about gaining experience. We will try to win every game."