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| Detroit Tigers Germay Johnson. UPI Yonhap News |
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| The national baseball team began its first training session at Goyang Baseball Team Training Center in Gyeonggi Province on the afternoon of the 2nd. Director Ryu Ji-hyun is smiling. Goyang = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.11.2/ |
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| Atlanta Braves Kim Ha-sung. ImagesYonhap News |
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Ryu Ji-hyun, head coach of the Korean baseball team, announced the national team's plan that considered not only Korean major leaguers such as Kim Ha-sung (Atlanta), Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco) and Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers). Manager Ryu explained that major leaguers from the KBO League were very active in playing in the WBC, and several Korean major leaguers also responded positively.
The national baseball team, which will play warm-up matches against the Czech Republic (Gocheok on the 8th and 9th) and Japan (Tokyo Dome on the 15th and 16th), trained for the second day at Goyang Guga National Baseball Training Center on the 3rd. From the 4th, LG and Hanwha players will join and be able to train normally at Gocheok Sky Dome as a whole.
While announcing the WBC member plan to be held in March next year, coach Ryu delivered the news on the joining of players playing in the Major League.
Coach Ryu flew to the U.S. at the end of September and met with Kim Ha-sung, Lee Jung-hoo, and Kim Hye-sung to hear their opinions on participating in the WBC. Ryu said, `When I went on a business trip to the U.S., I met all three of them, and they remained the same. If there's no big problem, I'll run"Thankfully, in the case of Lee Jung-hoo, the team also told him to go. Fortunately, I am thinking that there will be no variables. In the case of Kim Ha-sung, there are variables in his team, but his intention is not very problematic. Kim Hye-sung was also very active."
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| San Francisco Giants Lee Jung-hoo. AFP Yonhap News |
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| AP Yonhap News |
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In addition, Korean major leaguers, like Tommy Edman of the last tournament, are also expected to join. Director Ryu came to meet six to seven people. Some of them had very positive thoughts and some of them were a little skeptical. Some players didn't talk to the team because the season wasn't over yet."
When asked about the Korean-born players who answered positively, "You may change your mind later or the team may not send you." In the last tournament, we wanted to take Choi Ji-man to the end, but the team said they didn't let him go.
When asked directly about Jermai Johnson of the Detroit Tigers, who recently expressed his desire to play for the Korean national team, Ryu was a little surprised. Then I wondered "How much should I tell you?" and "I'll tell you only about Johnson." He was the most active player who gave a positive answer."
Born to an American father and a Korean mother, Johnson, a Ututa outfielder, made his debut with the Los Angeles Angels in 2020 and played in 72 games for Detroit this season after playing for Baltimore, Milwaukee, and the New York Yankees, with a batting average of 287 (37 hits in 129 at-bats) and seven home runs and 18 RBIs. There is a possibility of joining the Korean national team in that it is a right-handed outfielder necessary for the national team.
Whether major leaguers will join is expected to be outlined after submitting preliminary entries in December. Ryu said, `We will submit 35 preliminary entries in December, and the players in the preliminary entry will be notified to their teams. After that, the team will confirm the players' intention to participate. So I'm thinking that it will come out more clearly after December. Even now, the staff in charge is exchanging opinions by e-mail"There can be various variables, so when this player is not available, he is preparing various plans, including that player. Korean players can also face various situations, so they are going to prepare a little wider when they go to Saipan's first training camp in January."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
