The Korean baseball team's pitching staff has been tasked with the difficult job of stopping the potent lineup of the Dominican Republic, a favorite to win the WBC (World Baseball Classic).
Korea will face the Dominican Republic in the WBC quarterfinals on the 14th (Korea time) at loanDepot park in Miami, Florida.
MLB.com on the 13th noted, "the Dominican Republic team, which shows celebrations featuring bat flips, chest-thumping and even dancing, has ridden a wave of momentum into the WBC quarterfinals. Korea, which achieved a dramatic victory over Australia in its final first-round game, will go all out to stop the Dominican Republic, which boasts the tournament's top firepower," drawing attention to the quarterfinal between Korea and the Dominican Republic.
Korea beat the Czech Republic (11-4) in WBC Pool C but then lost consecutively to Japan (6-8) and Taiwan (4-5), greatly reducing its chances of advancing to the quarterfinals. In the final game against Australia, Korea had to overcome the difficult condition of allowing two runs or fewer while winning by at least five runs, but it won 7-2 and dramatically advanced to the quarterfinals.
Having miraculously advanced to the quarterfinals in second place in Pool C with a 2-2 record, Korea met Pool D winner (4-0) the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic swept the first round with wins over Nicaragua (12-3), the Netherlands (12-1), Israel (10-1) and Venezuela (7-5). They scored 41 runs and hit 13 home runs in four games, and the 13 home runs set a new WBC first-round record for most homers.
Superstars such as Juan Soto (Mets), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego), Manny Machado (San Diego), Ketel Marte (Arizona), Geraldo Perdomo (Arizona), Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay) and Julio Rodríguez (Seattle) make up the Dominican Republic's powerful lineup, which is rated alongside the United States as one of the tournament's best.
MLB.com emphasized the Dominican Republic's firepower, saying, "the Dominican Republic has hit 13 homers in this tournament, with only one home run left to tie the all-time record of 13 home runs set by Mexico in 2009," and Guerrero Jr. said, "we will keep doing what we're doing now. There's no need to change. We don't need to be different no matter which team we face. There are no weak teams in this tournament. Playing styles may be a little different for Asian teams, but we just need to play our baseball. There are no weak opponents and we must do our best," describing his mindset going into the game against Korea.
Korea allowed nine home runs in the first round, tying with Brazil, the Czech Republic and the United States for the most home runs allowed in the tournament. To beat the Dominican Republic, it is important to suppress home runs allowed. The burden falls heavily on starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), who faced many of the Dominican Republic's core hitters during his Major League days.
Many fans are hopeful that Korea, which advanced to the quarterfinals dramatically, can miraculously beat the Dominican Republic and aim even higher.
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