Japan, which belongs to the same group as Korea in the WBC (World Baseball Classic), is extremely wary of the three Korean major leaguers.
Japanese media ‘The Digest’ said on the 9th, “Korea, which announced the final entry a while ago, has Choi Ji-man (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres), who are active in the major leagues, Tommy Edman (St. Louis Cardinals), who has a Korean mother. We have built a strong formation around the center,” he said, wary of Korea’s power.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) originally included Ha-seong Kim, Ji-man Choi, and Hyo-jun Park (Atlanta Braves), as well as five big leaguers, including Korean players Tommy Edman and Rob Lefsnyder (Boston Red Sox), in the list of 50 players of interest.
Among them, 3 players realized their dream of becoming the Taegeuk mark. Park Hyo-joon was in an unstable position as he was subject to release waiting measures three times this winter, and Lefsnyder told the KBO that he would not be participating for personal reasons. In addition, the KBO, which had been shouting pure-bloodism, suddenly selected Edmon according to the WBC participation rules, which allow nationality to be determined by parental or grandparental lineage and place of birth, regardless of current nationality. 메이저사이트
Edman is a Korean player born in May 1995, the second of two sons and one daughter to a Korean mother, Kwak Gyeong-ah, and a college baseball coach father, John Edman. His full name is Thomas Hyeonsu Edmon, and he uses his Korean name Hyeonsu for his middle name. Having won the Major League National League Gold Glove two years ago, his skills are already a proven infield utility resource.
The Digest also showed interest in whether Choi Ji-man and Ohtani Shohei (LA Angels) would face off. The media quoted Korean media, saying, “Korea’s main gun Choi Ji-man is eager to meet Ohtani at the WBC. In the major leagues, although he resigned with two strikeouts, Choi Ji-man praised Ohtani as an excellent player.” Choi Ji-man faced Ohtani three times, but withdrew with no hits and two strikeouts in three at-bats.
The media said, “In the case of Choi Ji-man, the Pittsburgh club’s approval is required to be confirmed as the Korean representative.” The Korea-Japan match, which is attracting attention, will be held on March 10th.”