Reporter Kwon Hyeok-jun = Those who were called the ‘golden generation’ of Korean baseball for a while were born in 1982. Starting with Choo Shin-soo, Oh Seung-hwan, Lee Dae-ho, Kim Tae-gyun, Jeong Geun-woo, and Son Seung-rak have been raging in domestic and international leagues.
They have long served as the backbone of the national team. Even based on the World Baseball Classic (WBC), from the first tournament in 2006 when he was 24 years old to the most recent 4th tournament in 2017, there has never been a case where a person born in 1982 was missing.
However, they have already reached the age where they have passed the injustice, and the time has come to step down from the national team. Choo Shin-soo and Oh Seung-hwan were still active and had competitiveness, but it was difficult to be selected for the national team. The 5th WBC, which will be held in March, is the first tournament to be held without anyone born in 1982.
As those born in 1982 stepped down, those born in 1999 accounted for the most in the national team. Pitcher Gwak Bin, Jeong Cheol-won (Lee Sang-doosan), Jeong Woo-yeong (LG), and fielders Kang Baek-ho (KT) and Kim Hye-seong (Kiwoom), as many as five people boarded the ‘Lee Kang-cheol’.
Most of them are candidates worthy of a nod. Although they are still young at the age of 24, they continue to play an active role in the league and show that there is nothing lacking in wearing the ‘Taegeuk mark’.
It can be seen that Doosan’s’Young Gun Duo’ Kwak Bin and Jung Cheol-won stood out for the first time in the 2022 season. However, as pitchers who can throw fastballs at right-handed orthodoxies, they have high utilization value in the national team.
Kwak Bin, who received Doosan’s first nomination in 2018, became a full-time first-team pitcher only in 2021. After his debut, he needed time to show his skills, such as receiving Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament splicing surgery). However, following 2021 and 2022, he took a starting position and digested the rotation, and last year he started showing expectations with 8 wins and 9 losses and an average ERA of 3.78.
Jeong Cheol-won appeared like a comet in his 5th year season. Having joined Kwak Bin in 2018, he seldom settled down and served in the army as an active soldier. However, in the 2022 season, he served as a’guardian’ in the collapsed Doosan bullpen, and won the rookie king by playing an active role with 4 wins, 3 losses, 3 saves, 23 holds, and an average ERA of 3.10 in 58 games.
Jung Woo-young is a proven bullpen resource. From the first year of his debut, he played as the team’s winning group and swept 98 holds by 2022. Last season, he went 2-3 with 35 holds and an earned run average of 2.64, taking charge of Go Woo-seok’s lead and winning his first hold title in his life. Due to the nature of the sidearm, it is weak against left-handed hitters, but on the contrary, it emits ‘extreme’ force against right-handed hitters.
Kang Baek-ho is known as a ‘genius’. In the first year of his debut, he set the record for the most home runs (29) by a high school graduate rookie, quickly emerging as a promising giant gun prospect, and in 2021, he was the main player in his team’s first combined championship. In 2022, he had the worst year in his debut, playing only 62 games due to injuries, but he proved over the previous four years that he could perform at his best if he was healthy.
Kim Hye-seong also took the starting position for his team early on and made his mark as the league’s top-notch infielder. Accurate hitting ability, quick feet, and defensive ability are equipped with three beats. It can be used as both second baseman and shortstop, and because of its excellent running ability, it will be useful in the second half of the game. 메이저사이트
In the previous four WBC national teams, there has never been a time when players under the age of 25 occupied the ‘most number’. 2013 (5 people) was the only time that even the ‘golden generation’ born in 1982 recorded the highest number of WBC teams.
That is why it is so meaningful that young players aged 24 were selected the most in the WBC national team, where the world’s best players gather. This is because it could be the birth of a new ‘golden generation’ to succeed those born in 1982.
Besides the five members of the national team, there are many people born in 1999 who have already been recognized for their talent. Representative examples include Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom), who emerged as the best pitcher in the league last year, Han Dong-hee, third baseman for Lotte, and Lee Jae-won, who was picked by LG manager Yeom Gyeong-yeop. They also had the skills to be selected for the national team at any time.
There are some concerns about the selection of the national team that there are too many ‘veterans’. In fact, this national team has 7 veterans over the age of 35, which is the largest number ever in the WBC entry.
However, on the contrary, there are nine young players under the age of 25. It is also the highest number ever. Five younger than 1999, Won Tae-in (Samsung), Kim Yun-shik (LG, Lee Sang-sang, 2000), So-jun So (KT, 2001), and Lee Eui-ri (KIA, 2002) are among them.