The 2024 rookie draft is just three days away. This is a market with many good pitchers.
The results of the 31st World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup (World Youth Baseball Championship), which ended in Taiwan on the 11th, also show this.안전놀이터
On the last day of the competition, Korea defeated the United States 4-0 in the 3rd and 4th place match held at Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan, and won the bronze medal.
In the top of the first inning, leadoff hitter Jeong An-seok’s hit to right, with one out and runners on third base, Yeo Dong-geon hit a triple to right-center to score the first run. Then, with one out and runners on third base, Park Ji-hwan hit an infield bunt with his quick feet, allowing third base runner Yeo Dong-geon to hit home and score an additional point.
Korea ran away with a 3-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning with Cho Hyun-min’s hit to right, one out, and Sang-jun Lee’s timely hit to right. In the top of the 6th inning, with 2 outs and runners on 2nd base due to Cho Hyun-min’s walk, Seung-min Lee scored a triple that passed the center fielder’s height to make it 4-0.
Kim Taek-yeon, a national team starter who is competing for the first and second draft picks along with Hwang Jun-seo, played a key role in winning the bronze medal by throwing 98 pitches in 7 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, no runs, and a complete shutout.
In the final that followed, Japan won the championship with a 2-1 win over Taiwan.
Taek-yeon Kim and Sang-jun Lee were named to the top 9 in the relief pitcher and designated hitter categories, respectively.
Meanwhile, controversy over the abuse of national team pitchers also arose.
Kim Taek-yeon, who is likely to go to Doosan, appeared in 6 games and played 16 innings, the most among all pitchers participating in this tournament. He appeared in all weathers, switching between relief and starting positions. Because of that, he couldn’t get proper rest.
The only pitcher who has played more innings than Taek-yeon Kim is Japanese ace Yugo Maeda, who pitched a complete game in the finals, with 16⅔ innings. However, he only appeared as a starting pitcher three times. Australia’s Bushnell Jack James, who pitched 15 innings, also appeared in only three games.
Taekyeon Kim ranked first in this category, showing off his strikeout ability with an overwhelming figure of 29 strikeouts in 16 innings in this tournament.
He has nearly double the 15 strikeouts of the second-place group.
Hwang Jun-seo, who is expected to go to Hanwha as the first overall pick, was also tied for second place with 15 strikeouts in 12⅓ innings.
Yook Seon-yeop, who is receiving attention from Lotte and Samsung along with former Miracle player Kim Hwi-geon, is tied for 7th place with 13 strikeouts in just 10 innings. Park Geon-woo also stood shoulder to shoulder with Yuk Seon-yeop with 13 strikeouts in 7 innings.
This was a tournament in which the strikeout ability of Kim Taek-yeon, who is attracting attention as a closing pitcher succeeding Go Woo-seok of LG, stood out. However, it was difficult to avoid controversy over abuse due to the number of strikeouts.