The national baseball team has not made much progress in recent international competitions. Following the failure to advance to the second round for three consecutive World Baseball Classic events, the "Premier 12" tournament held in Taiwan in November last year failed to advance to the Super Round. As no active major leaguers participated, Korea experienced its first win in the "Premier 12," which is considered a lower-class competition than the WBC. Since then, the team has advanced to the finals, but now it is difficult to even advance to the Super Round, let alone the finals.메이저사이트

Of course, there was a clear justification. It is called "generational change." After suffering a disastrous failure at the WBC in 2023, the national team has changed its stance. Rather than having the best members, the team filled the entries with players in their 20s as the main focus. It was an expression of its commitment to seek a generational change while discovering as many new faces as possible.

Thus, the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship (APBC), the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Premier 12 have all finished participating in international competitions. Now is the time for achievements. We cannot afford to keep pursuing the cause of change of generation forever. Taiwan is a case in point. Once considered weak as a result of its declining international competitiveness, Taiwan encourages amateur players to make inroads into the global leagues by forming teams centering on players in their 20s and has displayed good performance in recent international competitions. In 2023, the WBC was swept away by the "Group of Death" and humiliated itself to play from the next WBC qualifying round, but it has displayed strong competitiveness enough to beat Korea in other international competitions. Taiwan won the Premier 12 final by beating Japan, signaling a successful replacement of generations.

It is time for Korea to make progress. There are no international competitions scheduled this year. However, the WBC, which will be held in March 2026, should be prepared.

The national baseball team is also busy preparing for the event. Ryu Joong-il, who led the Asian Games and Premier 12, has ended his term in office for now. The KBO will set up a new power enhancement committee within this month. Once the chairmen and members of the power enhancement committee are confirmed, the team will start selecting the next coach.

The KBO has internally selected candidates for the coach, and when the power reinforcement committee is created, it will be finalized after a meeting. The goal is to complete the appointment of the coach by early February. It means that we will hurry without delay. With the full-time supervisory system maintained, the next coach candidates and coaches are likely to have an average age younger than before. It is expected that the appointment of coaches and the composition of coaches will be made in line with the keynote of the "young national team."

Although there will be no international competition this year, the national team is expected to be busy throughout this season as the WBC is an important competition early next year. KBO has already scheduled a warm-up match with other national teams in November. During the season, the national team's coach and the head of the power enhancement committee will meet with overseas players and Korean players in person to have a meeting in person regarding their participation in the WBC. In the last WBC, Tommy Edman, a Korean-American major leaguer, played with the national flag.

In this WBC, rivals such as Japan, the Czech Republic, and Australia, who belong to the same group, are also formidable. In particular, Japan has already met with major leaguers since last year to encourage them to participate in the WBC, and in fact, "superstars" such as Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are known to be very willing to participate. South Korea has already suffered a crushing defeat by Japan's superstar corps, including Ohtani, in the last WBC. As it is inevitable to face off in the upcoming competition, a solid preparation is urgently needed.

If the team fails again without success in the WBC next year, it may fall to an irreversible level. Three years after the 2023 WBC will be wasted. In particular, Korean players have struggled to develop their sense of play in time for the WBC, which begins in early March, before the opening of the regular season. The new team needs thorough preparation. First of all, the appointment of a coach is the first step.