One of the favorites in Pool B is Korea, a traditional powerhouse in the baseball world. Team Korea will bring several current and former Major Leaguers to Japan, as well as a 24-year-old potential future star in the MLB. Let’s take a closer look at how Team Korea will look this March.
Related: A Look at Team China in the 2023 World Baseball Classic
Pitchers
- Woo-Suk Go
- Been Gwak
- Cheol-Won Joeng
- Woo-Young Jung
- Kwang Hyun Kim
- Won-Jung Kim
- Yun-Sik Kim
- Young-Pyo Ko
- Chang-Mo Koo
- Euilee Lee
- Young-Chan Lee
- Se-Woong Park
- Hyeong-Jun So
- Taein Won
- Hyeon-jong Yang
All of Team Korea’s pitchers call the KBO home, but this pitch staff does include a couple of former Major Leaguers. One of those names is Hyeon-jong Yang, who spent just one season in the Majors with the Texas Rangers. Yang’s run in Texas didn’t go particularly well, as the 34-year-old posted a 5.60 ERA and a 4.1 BB/9 over 12 games (35.1 IP).
Former Cardinals pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim is also a part of Team Korea. Kim spent two seasons in St. Louis, and put up solid numbers as a starter for the Cardinals. Across two seasons, Kim went 10-7 with a 2.97 ERA over 145.2 innings in St. Louis.
Position Players
- Jeong Choi (INF)
- Ji Hoon Choi (OF)
- Tommy Edman (INF)
- Baek-Ho Kang (INF)
- Ha-Seong Kim (INF)
- Hye-Seong Kim (INF)
- Hyun-Soo Kim (OF)
- Ji-Young Lee (C)
- Jung-Hoo Lee (OF)
- Sung-Bum Na (OF)
- Ji-Hwan Oh (INF)
- ByungHo Park (INF)
- Hae-Min Park (OF)
- Kun-Woo Park (OF)
- Euiji Yang (C)
Korea should have one of the better lineups in the World Baseball Classic, thanks to a strong middle infield. Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim will be joined by Tommy Edman. The speedy Edman, of Korean descent, proved to be one the league’s more valuable infielders in 2022.
Team Korea will also feature outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee, the reigning MVP of the KBO. The 24-year-old is set to be posted by the Kiwoom Heroes after the end of the 2023 KBO season, and should be one of the more lucractive free agents this coming winter.