“I don’t know if you’ll pick me, but if I get a chance to participate in the tournament, I’d like to go to the national team one more time and play as a player representing Korea.”
This is what Hanwha Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin said after returning to the KBO League last winter. At that time, Ryu Hyun-jin gave a positive answer to the possibility of joining the 2024 Premier 12 national team.
However, seven months later, Ryu’s return to the national team seems to be in vain. The KBO’s power enhancement committee officially announced the preliminary list of 60 players for the 2024 Premier 12 on the 12th. Ryu’s name could not be found on the list.
In the preliminary list of 60 players for the national team, five left-handers are LG Twins Son Joo-young, SSG Landers Oh Won-seok, Doosan Bears Lee Byung-hun, KIA Tigers Kwak Do-kyu and Lotte Giants Kim Jin-wook. In terms of starting resources, Son Joo-young, Oh Won-seok, and Kim Jin-wook were included in the preliminary list.
In the end, it is interpreted that he decided to form a preliminary list that focuses on generational change for the 2026 WBC and 2028 LA Olympics rather than taking Ryu Hyun-jin, a veteran born in 1987, to the Premier 12 tournament and maximizing the national team’s power right away.
Already in the middle of the season, rumors spread widely in the baseball community that the KBO is determined to create a younger national team in relation to the formation of the Premier 12 national team. Some said that Ryu, who showed his strong will to return to the national team along with Ko Young-pyo, a sidearm pitcher who is strong in the international arena, is highly likely to join the team as a veteran pitcher. However, unlike Ko, Ryu was eventually excluded from the preliminary list of the national team.
The KBO also said it has made up a preliminary list of young players in their 20s who are expected to play well in international competitions in the future. This means that young players who should lead Korean baseball in the future, following last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games and APBC, aim to strengthen their competitiveness in international competitions at a higher level through the Premier 12.
Ryu played an active part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 WBC competitions. He also contributed to the team’s gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, but lost ties with the team by advancing to the Major League in 2012. Of course, he can change his preliminary roster before submitting the final entry for the Premier 12 tournament on October 11. However, if he fails to join the 2024 Premier 12 national team, the 2026 WBC national team will be his last chance to return to the national team. 메이저놀이터
Coincidentally, SSG pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun and KIA pitcher Yang Hyun-jong, who are considered left-handers of Korean baseball in the 2010s along with Ryu Hyun-jin, were also excluded from the national team’s preliminary list of 60. From the 2015 Premier 12 tournament to the 2017 WBC, 2019 Premier 12, and 2023 WBC tournaments, there was no national team without Kim Kwang-hyun or Yang Hyun-jong. The 2024 Premier 12 national team is likely to become an iconic national team without the so-called Ryu, Kim and Yang left-hander trio.
Meanwhile, the Korean Premier 12 teams, along with Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Australia, will play in Group B and play the first round in Taipei, Taiwan, from Nov. 13-18. The Super Round, in which the first and second place finishers from each group compete, will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from Nov. 21. The date of call-up and departure schedule for the team selected for Team Korea’s final entry will be finalized later.
