Will Shohei Ohtani (28, Los Angeles Angels), the ‘double sword’ that Japan is proud of, start as a starting pitcher for the Korea-Japan match?

On the 18th, Japan’s ‘Sports Nippon’ predicted the start of the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) 1st round Group B Korea match to be held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on March 10 under the title of ‘Samurai Japan Ohtani’s selection plan for Korea match’ on the 18th.

The media said, “Japanese coach Hideki Kuriyama is planning a reverse pitcher operation from the quarterfinals held on March 16th. When the conditions are right, Ohtani can take a 5-day break after the Korea match, the biggest hurdle in the 1st round, and go to the quarterfinals (tournament),” giving the basis for the prediction, and showing vigilance, saying, “The first obstacle to becoming the best in the world is rival Korea.” .

Japan laughed in all three recent Korea-Japan matches, including the 2019 Premier 12 Super Round and finals, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics semi-finals. However, the WBC match between Korea and Japan is on a par with 4 wins and 4 losses in the past 8 matches. It has already been 15 years ago, but I still have painful memories of losing to Korea in both the preliminaries and semifinals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

So, it is highly likely that Ohtani will be selected for the first round match against Korea, the most difficult opponent. Sports Nippon said, “Ohtani showed outstanding pitching in two matches against Korea in the 2015 Premier12. Following 6 innings, 10 strikeouts and no runs as a starter in the opening game, he blocked the semifinals with 1 hit, 11 strikeouts and no runs in 7 innings in 7 innings. He emphasized that Ohtani, who has significantly improved his power compared to that time, is perfect for the Korean game.

At the time of the Premier 12 eight years ago, Ohtani was before entering the major leagues. However, it was when he established himself as the ace of the Nippon Ham Fighters and his potential began to explode. At that time, he overwhelmed other Korean players with a fastball of 161km and a forkball of 147km. 2 games, 13 innings, 3 hits, 3 walks (2 walks, 1 walk), 21 strikeouts and no runs left a strong impression in Korea.

However, unlike the Premier 12, it is fortunate for Korea that there are restrictions on the number of pitches. In particular, the first round is limited to a maximum of 65 pitches, so Ohtani cannot throw long. For Korea, increasing the number of Ohtani’s pitches to the maximum is expected to be the key to victory. 온라인바카라

Meanwhile, Japan, which made up the final 30 WBC entries with 15 pitchers and 15 fielders, will convene next month and confirm the technique through training. Starting with Ohtani, four top-class pitchers who dominate the major league and Japanese stages, including Yu Darvish (San Diego), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix), and Rocky Sasaki (Chiba Lotte), are expected to form a starting rotation.

However, it is expected that it will be delayed when major league players join the national team, so coach Kuriyama is also delaying the decision on the pitching order. After starting strengthening training on the 17th of next month, the Japanese national team will go through five practice matches with Japanese teams before facing China on March 9th, the first WBC match. Major leaguers such as Ohtani and Darvish are expected to return to Japan around March 6 and join the national team after completing camp training in their respective teams in the United States. There may be some variables in between. After checking the physical condition and condition of the competition, the order to start is decided