Won Tae-in Moon Dong-ju can't even throw a match against Japan, but the coach must win his bold bid
Nov 11, 2025
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Korean national baseball team coach Ryu Ji-hyun threw his hat in the ring ahead of two warm-up matches against Japan. However, he still reacted cautiously to the use of Won Tae-in (Samsung) and Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha), the main starting pitchers.
After two consecutive games against the Czech Republic, the national team conducted training at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 11th. The national team will leave for Tokyo, Japan via Gimpo International Airport on the 12th. The national team will play a warm-up match against Japan at Tokyo Dome for two days on the weekend from the 15th to the 16th after adjusting to the local area.
Coach Ryu, who met ahead of training on the 11th, said, "It's a warm-up match, but isn't it a different feeling to be against Japan?"" I think we have to win the match between Korea and Japan," he said firmly. I then told the players at the pre-training meeting. If you're in your current condition, you can play well enough against Japan. The team atmosphere is very good right now. It's lively, and the players are motivated. That's why I'm so happy as a director, and I'm so relaxed."
The warm-up match against the Czech Republic focused on restoring the senses and checking the condition of the players who had a long absence from practice. So pitchers also entered the set innings and order and completed their duties. The batters were also completely different lineups in the first and second games.
But the match against Japan is different. "Unlike the Czech Republic, the game against Japan will be run in the same way as an important game," Ryu said. There are rules unique to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and rules that Japan and we promised, and we will try to operate to win as much as possible accordingly", he explained. For example, WBC has restrictions on the number of pitches per round and rest regulations.
Then, will the match against Japan be able to see Won Tae-in and Moon Dong-ju, the team's one-two punch, saved in the match against the Czech Republic. The two threw a lot of balls until the postseason, focusing on checking their condition and resting. It seemed to be a precious strategy for the match against Japan. However, Ryu has continued to react extremely cautiously to the two.
It was the same day. Coach Ryu asked "Is it so curious about the two throwing?" "If you want to throw the game, you have to prepare carefully in advance. In addition, it is important for us to build up to make the best condition in line with the upcoming WBC, not the warm-up match. The future is more important than the current game. That's why he said it's not the time for the coach to be greedy."
When asked if they had any greed to see how the two threw in the match against Japan, "They've already seen each other for a long time, and they've shown the best skills." They are players who have to play a role in a really important game. "If there is a situation where we can't take advantage of it at that time rather than the current situation ahead of the WBC in March next year, it will be a stupid thing to do."
If the two fail to throw in the match against Japan, they will not be able to throw a ball in four games and this call-up will end. In response, Ryu responded, `Just working with my teammates in the national team helps" he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
