With batting order change, Ryu Jung-il-ho looks to overcome powerful Japanese mound
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Noh Si-hwan celebrates after hitting a game-winning single with runners on first and second in the 10th inning of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Baseball Championship (APBC) between South Korea and Australia at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, Saturday afternoon.
After defeating Australia to open the 2023 Asia-Pacific Baseball Championship (APBC) with a win, the Korean National Baseball Team will now take on arch-rivals Japan. To get past the Japanese, the batting lineup that frustrated fans in Australia will need to break out.
The Korean baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Jung-il, will face Japan in the second game of the tournament on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. It's an opponent they'll need to overcome for pride as well as to advance to the final.
South Korea avenged its World Baseball Classic (WBC) loss to Australia the day before with a 3-2 win in Game 1. No. 4 hitter Noh Si-hwan's game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning of extra innings secured the thrilling victory.
Choi Ji-hoon of South Korea reacts after striking out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning during the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023 match between South Korea and Australia at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday afternoon.
However, the game left something to be desired. The pitchers kept the Australian bats in check with minimal runs, but the bats were the problem. They managed only three runs on eight hits.
They couldn't take advantage of the home run-prone Tokyo Dome. While Australia's home runs turned the tide in the middle innings, South Korea only managed two long balls. They also struck out seven times. The score remained 1-2 until the top of the eighth inning. If not for Kim Joo-won's lucky hit in the bottom of the eighth, the WBC nightmare could have come true.
More importantly, the top of the order was not able to put food on the table for the center fielders. Ryu sent out the speedy Kim Hye-sung and Choi Ji-hoon as table-setters against Australia, but they struggled, going 0-for-4 and 0-for-5, respectively. In particular, Choi struck out three times.
Kim Joo-won of South Korea celebrates after hitting a single during the eighth inning of the baseball game between South Korea and Australia at the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 16.
Yoon Dong-hee, batting third, was also silent, going hitless in four at-bats. The batters in the first through third spots combined to go 0-for-13. Noh Si-hwan, the No. 4 batsman, was unable to get on base.
After the team's lackluster offensive performance against Australia, Ryu said after the game, "I'm thinking of changing the batting order in the next game," hinting at a different starting lineup for the Korea-Japan game. Rather than making major changes to the roster, Ryu will look to shake up the batting order to make a breakthrough.
Hitters with good batting form are likely to be batting up front. Kim Joo-won, who batted ninth in Australia and contributed to the win with a multi-hit and game-winning RBI, could be moved up. Catcher Kim Hyung-jun, who batted first against Australia, could also be moved up from No. 8. Tablesetters could also be tinkered with to boost run production.
Japan is traditionally a strong team on the mound. This APBC is no different. In the previous day's game against Chinese Taipei, the pitchers came up big. The Japanese bats took a perfect game into the fifth inning against Chinese Taipei starter Koo Lin-Liu Yang, but the mound held them without a run and eventually scored four runs late in the game to secure a 4-0 victory. 카지노사이트존