Since the Hangzhou Asian Games, Korea has been struggling with Taiwan`s monster pitchers in succession. This time, Korea was teased by a monster pitcher who could throw water up to 154 kilometers.
The Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Chung In-myung, lost 0-4 against Taiwan in the opening game of the 30th Asian Baseball Championship held at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on Tuesday. The game was the official opening game of Taipei Dome.
Korea`s starting pitcher Shin Heon-min (SSG) allowed six hits and three runs in two innings, but Woo Kang-hoon (Lotte Giants) took the mound as the second pitcher, recorded four hits, one strikeout and one run in three ⅔ innings. However, the team failed to avoid losing the game, as its batters were blocked by four hits to the mound in Taiwan. Kim Sung-woo (LG), who started as the eighth catcher, lost his face by posting two hits in three at-bats.
He was completely beaten by Taiwanese starting pitcher Shrush. Shrush silenced the Korean batters by allowing two hits, 10 strikeouts and no run in seven innings. 스포츠토토
Xu Xu Xu Xi is a promising right-handed fastball player in Taiwan. In the first round of the 2019 Taiwanese professional baseball rookie draft, he was selected by the Wei Qian Dragons, a new team that was re-established at the time. In his debut season in 2020, he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments of his right elbow in the second division and devoted himself to rehabilitation.
Since joining the main league in 2021, Shiroishi made a sensational debut. In the second game of the opening series against the Jungshin Brothers on March 17, he garnered three hits, one walk, 11 strikeouts, and no run during three ⅔ innings, making his name known. He pitched the ball up to 154 kilometers to perfectly dominate his debut game. He became the youngest pitcher to strike out 11 in the Taiwanese professional baseball history. In addition, he recorded three wins and seven losses in 81 innings with an ERA of 3.11 and 98 strikeouts in 20 games (19 starts). He became the first player without a homerun among pitchers to throw more than 80 innings since 2000, without giving up any homeruns. He became the first player to set a new milestone in 21 years.
However, as a pitcher standing 180 centimeters and 76 kilograms, he was always exposed to injury due to his rather small physique. Wei Quan, his team, specially managed Shrush. He limited the number of pitches and innings during his debut season in 2021, and if he starts his season as a starter again in 2022, he will manage the number of pitches thoroughly. However, he skipped the entire year of 2022 when he underwent Tommy John surgery for connecting tendons in his elbow.
Shiroishi, who returned to action at the end of August this year, pitched in only 15 ⅓s in five games. He had 10 hits, 18 strikeouts and two walks, displaying his ball power. In addition, he pitched in two games with one win, an earned run average (one earned run in 11 innings), and 11 strikeouts and four walks. Notably, he led his team to victory in Game 6, which was on the verge of losing the series, with seven innings, one hit, four walks, and seven strikeouts. Ultimately, Wei Quan had four wins and three losses overall in the series, laying the groundwork for his team to win the Taiwan Series title in 24 years.
He is also a promising player in the U.S. The scouting report on players who are likely to play in the Major League overseas, which was written in the fangraph on April 29 (Korea time), also explains about him. “Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching in 2022. When he returned in the second half of the 2023 season, he pitched about 15 innings until the end of the regular season, and his pitching power returned completely,” the media said. “He threw 94 to 96 miles (151 to 154 kilometers) in three innings on average and mixed three different pitches.”
“Because he showed tremendous speed in his rookie season before his injury, developing a command and breaking ball was the most important thing. When he returned in 2023, he confirmed that he had leveled up sliders and splitters in the mid-80s as well as slow curves,” he said. “His pitching form is very tricky, so the U.S. expects him to be a bullpen pitcher. However, if he can throw four good pitches in good health, it will be worth reevaluating,” he said, leaving open the possibility of starting a pitcher in the future.
Meanwhile, Korea has been tightly controlled by Taiwan’s promising pitchers since the Hangzhou Asian Games. Lin Yu-min, a left-hander who started the preliminary and final matches for the Hangzhou Asian Games, is now called up to double-A level as Arizona’s fourth-best prospect in this year’s MLB.com pipeline. He has recorded eight wins and seven losses with an ERA of 3.50 and 231 strikeouts in 177 ⅔ innings in the Minor League. He has a whopping 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. In the preliminary match against Korea, he pitched perfectly without allowing four hits, one walk and six strikeouts in six innings. Although he regretted his performance, he allowed five hits, two walks, five strikeouts and two runs in five innings.
In addition, Ryu Je-long, who pitched in both games against Korea, also struggled as a right-handed fastball pitcher in Double A under the Boston Red Sox.
Taiwan has always been an ambush in international competitions and has been hit as hard as it was in the preliminary round for this year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou. However, the reality that Taiwan’s baseball, especially its pitching staff, is approaching, not an ambush.