Kiwoom Lee Jeong-hoo has a tremendous presence among young juniors in their 20s. It is a huge loss for the Asian Games national team, with Lee Jeong-hoo unable to participate due to an ankle injury.

KT pitcher Park Young-hyun pitched in the 8th inning in the game against Changwon NC on the 13th and recorded his 30th hold of the season with a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. He achieved a new record of 30 holds, making him the youngest player ever in the KBO League at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 2 days. It surpassed the previous record set by Han Hyun-hee (then of Nexen) in 2014 at 21 years, 3 months and 20 days.

Park Young-hyun, the Asian Games national team member, while talking about the Hold King title, said, “My first goal is to win the Asian Games gold medal.”메이저놀이터

However, there are many concerns that the Asian Games national team is the weakest of all time. After the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the KBO decided to select the Asian Games national team mainly from players who are 24 years old and have three years of professional experience or less. (As the Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed for a year, only this time it was for the under-25s) The regular season was not suspended, and the number of players called up per team was limited to a maximum of three.

The Asian Games national team is mostly young players with no experience in international competitions. Three wild cards (players with no age limit) were selected, all of whom were in their 20s.

However, Lee Jeong-hoo, a key member of the national team, suffered an ankle injury at the end of July and underwent surgery, making it impossible for him to play.

Regarding Lee Jeong-hoo’s absence due to injury, Park Young-hyun said, “70% of his strength was lost… “He said weakly. This means that it is a core force in air defense. Lee Jeong-hoo participated in the 2018 Asian Games national team and performed well in international competitions until the World Baseball Classic last March.

When Park Young-hyun was asked what percentage he thought he would get, he humbly said, “I’m about 1%, and I’m grateful even if it’s just 1%.”

The Hangzhou Asian Games national team will convene at Gocheok Dome on the 23rd and begin its first training. There are many things to worry about, not just Lee Jeong-hoo’s absence.

NC Koo Chang-mo, who was expected to be a left-handed ace, has been out of action for more than three months due to a left forearm injury and stress fracture. Koo Chang-mo plans to pitch about two innings in the Futures League game against KT 2nd team to be held in Iksan on the 19th. National team coach Ryu Joong-il and Power Strengthening Committee Chairman Jo Gye-hyun are visiting Iksan to see Koo Chang-mo pitching in person. 

KT Kang Baek-ho, the main hitter of the national team succeeding Lee Jeong-hoo, also stayed in the second team for a long time due to physical and mental fatigue. He returned to the first team on the 5th, appearing only as a pinch hitter. Park Byung-ho, who recovered from a minor calf injury suffered in the game against Samsung on the 14th, is playing first base, and Kang Baek-ho is starting as the designated hitter. 

Last year’s save king, Go Woo-seok, and the hold king, Jung Woo-young, have had severe ups and downs and are underperforming this season. The average ERA of the two players is in the high 3-point range and low 4-point range. Asian Games national team coach Ryu Joong-il’s concerns are growing.