Three weeks ago, was there any baseball player happier than Hanwha Eagles right-handed pitcher Moon Dong-ju (20)? On October 7, he started in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games held at Stadium 1 of Shaoxing Baseball Softball Sports Center in Zhejiang, China, and pitched 6 scoreless innings. Thanks to Moon Dong-joo’s brilliant pitching, Korea defeated ‘difficult enemy’ Chinese Taipei 2-0 and achieved its fourth consecutive Asian Games victory. Moon Dong-ju, who appeared as the first adult representative, confirmed that he is the future and present of Korean baseball.도메인
“For now, I didn’t exercise and rested well.”
Moon Dong-ju met in the first base dugout at Daejeon Baseball Stadium on the 30th. He seemed to be in very good condition, perhaps because he achieved his goal and had enough rest for over 20 days. With his bright face, he talked about the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) to be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan next month.
On September 3, he appeared in his final regular season game and pitched 10 innings in two games at the Asian Games. When you turn around, your next schedule awaits. On the 5th of next month, he will join the APBC national team. He will train at a camp in Daegu and compete in the competition that opens on the 16th.
“I was thinking about competing. I’ve had a long break from exercising, but I was able to prepare without any major problems. Now I’m going to exercise. If I don’t, there’s a risk of injury.”
Moon Dong-ju is a ‘treasure’ that Hanwha has maintained with great care. He was concerned about injuries caused by excessive pitching, so he imposed a pitching limit of 130 innings prior to the start of the season. Including the Asian Games. He has pitched a total of 128⅔ innings so far, reaching the pitched innings limit set by the club.
He can’t ignore a call to the national team. However, management seems necessary.
“When I looked at the (Japanese) lineup, there were a lot of good players. But we all know that Japan is good.
The players who have seen it must clearly know that they are good.”
Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia will participate in the APBC. Young players under the age of 24 and in their third year or less from each country’s league will participate. Even though they are not the best members, Japan His power looks good.
Among the winning members of the WBC Japan national team, Yokohama Baystars second baseman Shugo Maki (25) is the only one selected. He is Yokohama’s No. 4 hitter with a batting average of .293, 29 home runs, and 103 RBIs this season. He is the only clutch hitter among the 12 teams in both leagues to have over 100 RBI.
“Japan will try to take control of the game. But there is no reason for us, representing Korea, to lose. I have good memories of the Asian Games. I know it’s more difficult than the Asian Games, but I still have to give it a try. I believe that if you think like that, you will definitely achieve good results.”
Neither Japan nor the Tokyo Dome are unfamiliar to me. I am talking about participating in competitions, not field training. For the young players on the national team, the match against Japan held in Japan is bound to be special. “The
team I want to play against in particular . There is no. I have to throw my best in the game. I think it will be more fun because it’s my first time in Japan.”
Even though I was worried about Japan’s performance, I did not lose confidence. It was a gift from winning the Asian Games. Participating in competitions rather than finishing training seems to be a stronger motivation.
Dong-ju Moon said he was grateful for the team’s consideration.
“I was able to do well thanks to taking time off to prepare for the Asian Games. They thought of me tremendously. This is a great motivation.”
I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of pitch Moon Dong-joo will throw at Tokyo Dome