Former Japanese national team coach “Selection for the Korean match? Yamamoto should throw”

Hideki Hashikami (57), former strategy coach for the Japanese national baseball team, strongly recommended Yamamoto Yoshinobu (25, Orix Buffaloes) as the starting pitcher for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Korea-Japan match in March.

Coach Hideki said in an interview with Japanese media ‘J-cast’, which was reported on the 2nd, “I think Yamamoto should be the starting pitcher because the most important match in the first round is the second match against Korea.” “I want to avoid the first game where there is little pressure and there is a lot of uncertainty.”

Japan will play the first round of the 2023 WBC finals in March at Tokyo Dome. They are drawn in Group B along with Korea, Australia, China and the Czech Republic, and are expected to compete for first place with Korea. 

The 2023 Japan WBC national team, led by coach Hideki Kuriyama (62), is composed of super-luxurious members. In the case of the mound, including Darvish (37), the ace of the San Diego Padres in the US Major League, Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels) of the ‘Double Sword’, Yamamoto, who won the Sawamura Award for two consecutive years, and Rocky Sasaki (22), the right-handed fireballer of Chiba Lotte. There are a lot of ace pitchers.메이저놀이터

Japan also believes that the match against Korea on March 10 will be a watershed for Group B 1st place. Although there is a pitch limit, the Japanese coaching staff is deeply concerned about the starting pitcher for the Korean War.

Recently, the Japanese media expected Darvish, who has a lot of experience, as a starting pitcher for the WBC Korea match. Darvish has played all major international competitions, such as the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2009 WBC.

In the case of the 2009 WBC, in the final against Korea, Japan took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead and recorded a blown save, such as allowing a timely hit to tie the game to Lee Beom-ho, but the game ended with Japan’s 10th overtime 5-3 victory, and the pitcher won the championship. I tasted the joy of being

Yamamoto, recommended by coach Hideki, is also a big threat to Korea in terms of pitch and performance over the past two years. In the 2022 season, he pitched 193 innings in 26 games and dominated Nippon Professional Baseball with an average ERA of 1.68 with 15 wins and 5 losses.

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