At the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12, Park Young-hyun (21, kt wiz), who is considered the core of the Korean national baseball team’s bullpen, declared that he would strike out Mel Rojas Jr., who will meet his teammate and enemy.
When asked what he would do with his teammate Rojas after the national team training at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 29th, Park Young-hyun stressed, “Of course, I will strike out.”
South Korea, which belongs to the Premier 12 Group B, which will be held in Taiwan from the 13th of next month, will face the Dominican Republic, which Rojas belongs to, on the 16th, following Taiwan on the 13th.
“Just this season, I watched Rojas stand at 500 or more (actually 670 at-bats) in the same team,” Park Young-hyun said. “I am well aware of Rojas’ weaknesses.” Rojas played in all 144 professional baseball games this season and posted a batting average of 0.329, 32 homers, 112 RBIs, and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.989.
Park Young-hyun, who displayed stellar performance in fall baseball after the closing of KT, pitched in four games this year in the post-season wild card game and semi-playoff, and pitched perfectly with one win and two saves and zero earned run average (two hits and no runs in 6 1/3 innings). In the fourth semi-PO game against LG, Park spent three and one third of innings without allowing any hits and three strikeouts to secure a relief victory. At the time, Park Young-hyun was also named the Daily MVP. 안전놀이터
Park Young-hyun is an important resource for the national team as well. “Both Park Young-hyun and Kim Taek-yeon did well,” Korean national team coach Ryu Joong-il said. “We are considering who will finish the tournament.”
In particular, the role of a bullpen with strong ball power is most important for the national team in a situation where there is a lack of powerful ball power selection.
“I will throw the ball with a greater sense of responsibility because I know Rojas’ weaknesses,” Park said. “I will dig in relentlessly because I know his weaknesses.” He was also wary of Rojas’ “one shot.” “I’m sure Rojas knows my weaknesses,” he said. “I won’t let Rojas hit a home run. Even if I get a hit, I won’t let him hit a long ball.”
