The Korea national baseball team (manager Ryu Ji-hyun) suffered a come-from-behind 11-4 loss to Japan in the first warmup game at Tokyo Dome on the 15th, dropping to 0-10 since 2017. Korea's last win over Japan in baseball was in the semifinals of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBCS) Premier12 in 2015.
On the day, Korea starter Kwak Bin (Doosan Bears) threw three scoreless innings, and in the top of the fourth Ahn Hyun-min (kt wiz) and Song Sung-mun (Kiwoom Heroes) hit back-to-back home runs to make it 3-0. But after the order turned over, Kwak gave up four straight hits in the fourth and allowed one run, then left the mound with runners on first and third and one out. Lee Ro-un, who came on next, gave up a game-tying hit with two outs and runners on second and third.
In the fifth, even though top-tier KBO League relievers such as Kim Taek-yeon (Doosan Bears), Lee Ho-sung (Samsung Lions), and Sung Young-tak (KIA Tigers) came on one after another, they could not stop Japan's lineup. Even as the pitchers visibly wavered, Korea's bench could not make a change because of the rules. They gave up six runs in the fifth alone, and those runs became the dagger.
This series, arranged to prepare for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March next year, follows the official Major League Baseball (MLB) rules. The pitch clock is enforced more strictly than in the KBO League, and the automated ball-strike system (ABS) is not used. And once a pitcher takes the mound, the pitcher must face a minimum of three batters.
Korean baseball felt the gap with Japan. Among that, the rules that made things harder for Korea were the absence of ABS and the "mandatory three-batter minimum for a reliever." Over the past two years, Korean pitchers became used to ABS and several times showed they did not readily accept the plate umpire's calls.
ABS, also called the "robot umpire," judges strikes and balls without error, but a human umpire can render different calls on the same pitch. The WBC in March next year likewise will not apply ABS. Whatever call an umpire makes must be accepted as part of the game, and pitchers must not be shaken.
Both the bench and the pitchers need to revisit the "three-batter minimum" rule. The bench must deploy pitchers while considering multiple variables, and pitchers, who must get through three batters no matter what, need the responsibility to finish the job themselves.
Ultimately, these issues point to an unavoidable conclusion: pitchers with even stronger stuff are needed. In the KBO League, pitchers throwing over 150 kph have emerged one after another recently, and Korea's bench showed confidence in that area.
Korea's young pitchers, who were expected to deliver, did not throw strikes, and that led to defeat. Familiarity with the pitch clock rules also cannot be emphasized enough. Lee Min-seok (Lotte Giants), who pitched in the eighth, was charged a ball for a pitch clock violation on the first pitch to his first batter, then issued a walk.
That led to two more runs allowed and became the final blow in the loss. The KBO League pitch clock is 20 seconds with the bases empty and 25 seconds with runners on, but the WBC rules are 15 seconds and 18 seconds, respectively.