[Asian Games] Coach Ryu Joong-il “I Decided to Replace Lee Ui-ri After Seeing that he couldn’t Throw 80 Shots”
The Hangzhou baseball team convened on the 23rd,
excluding Lee Ui-ri’s entry a day before the convocation.
Ryu Joong-il (60), head coach of the Korean national baseball team at the Hangzhou Asian Games,
revealed the reason for the sudden replacement of left-handed pitcher Lee Eui-ri (21, KIA Tigers).
At the first convocation training of the national baseball team held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 23rd,
Coach Ryu said, “Lee Ui-ri is the best left-handed pitcher in Korea,
but I had doubts about whether he would be able to handle 70 to 80 pitches in his current condition.
He said, “In the end, I thought I couldn’t throw more than 80 pitches as a starting pitcher, so I decided to replace him.” 온라인카지노사이트
Lee Ui-ri
Lee Ui-ri, who throws a fastball of over 150 km per hour,
will start with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, his first year as a member,
the World Baseball Classic (WBC) this March.
He was also selected as a player.
He was named in the final 24-member national team announced last June,
but the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) suspended his skills due to injuries on the 22nd,
a day before the national team was to be convened.
It was judged to be difficult to expand, so Lee Ui-ri was removed from the list and outfielder Yoon Dong-hee (20) was added.
Lee Ui-ri, who is struggling with a shoulder injury and finger blisters,
left the mound without completing 5 innings in 4 consecutive games in the KBO League,
starting with the game against KT Wiz on the 22nd of last month.
KBO League
Before returning to the first team, against the Hanwha Eagles on the 21st,
he took the starting mound with Manager Ryu watching,
but became the losing pitcher with 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 out, and 5 runs (4 earned) in 1⅓ innings.
When the KBO announced that Lee Ui-ri was excluded due to injury,
the KIA team, including coach Kim Jong-guk, objected,
saying that there was no problem with his physical condition.
Coach Ryu said, “Personally, I think it’s unfortunate that Lee Ui-ri was replaced at the end.
I saw him hit with a blister 15 days ago (against the LG Twins on the 9th),
I saw the condition of his finger a week later.
Your perspective may be different, but he was a good pitcher.
“Looking at the appearance of the blisters before and after,
I decided that it would be difficult in this condition,” he explained.
Regarding the selection of a new outfielder instead of a pitcher,
he said, “There are only three outfielders in the national team,
so I said I would use Kang Baek-ho, Kim Hye-seong, and Kim Ji-chan in an emergency.
(Then) Yoon Dong-hee had the best performance at the end of the league.
That’s why I selected him.” revealed.
The match is between Taiwan and Japan.
In particular, the best scenario is to win the second game of the preliminary round against Taiwan,
secure first place in the group, and then face Taiwan again in the finals.
Ryu Joong-il
Coach Ryu said, “We will do our best in the preliminaries against Taiwan.
Even if we think about the finals then, we will focus on that.”
He added, “I don’t think we will be able to score many points.
The middle pitcher is good, so if we block by 2 to 3 points,
“There is a good chance of winning,” he explained.
Also, regarding the team’s lack of starting pitchers due to the absence of Koo Chang-mo (NC Dinos) and Lee Ui-ri,
he said, “(Right-handed pitchers) Kwak Bin and Park Se-woong have both faced many left-handed hitters in the KBO League,
which has many left-handed hitters.
I believe they will do well.”
He indicated that he had been selected as a starting candidate for the match against Japan.
Coach Ryu also has experience leading the national team to a gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
He said, “Before training today, I asked the players three things:
‘Let’s put aside the name and be proud as a player representing Korea on the uniform,’
‘Let’s love baseball and be courteous to baseball,’ and ‘Let’s be with the coaches and “All of the players said,
‘Let’s work together as one and win the gold medal.’”