Hanwha Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-ju, the “Prince of Daejeon” who is expected to be the ace of the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), will be back in action in a month.
Moon was a key contributor to South Korea’s gold medal victory at the Hangzhou Asian Games. South Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0 in the baseball final at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on March 7 at the Shaoxing Baseball Stadium in Zhejiang, China. The victory avenged a 0-4 loss in the second game of the Group B preliminary round against Chinese Taipei two days earlier.
South Korea opened the scoring in the second inning after missing runners on first and second in the first. Moon Bo-kyung led off with a double to right field. The runner advanced to third on a wild pitch. 바카라사이트 Kang Baek-ho grounded out to third, but Kim Joo-won followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to score the first run. Kim Hyung-jun singled to left and Kim Sung-yoon doubled to put runners on second and third on a wild pitch.
Moon Dong-ju’s perfect game was a highlight
He shut down the Chinese Taipei bats with a 160-kilometer fastball, striking out seven in six scoreless innings. Choi Ji-min, Park Young-hyun, and Ko Woo-seok then combined for three scoreless innings.
Moon did not take the mound after returning home with the gold medal, instead focusing on getting back into shape. After recharging his batteries, Moon is scheduled to pitch in a practice game against the Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Commerce) at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on Aug. 8.
“I’m joining the national team after a good result (at the Hangzhou Asian Games), so the team atmosphere is good. There are a lot of players my age, so I’m enjoying training with them,” said Moon on joining the APBC team. “I’m a little worried because I’ve been resting so much, but I hope the results will be as good as the rest. I’m not afraid of anything because we are always ready and we can definitely do well,” he said confidently.
“It’s the first time I’ve thrown in a month since the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct. 7, so I’m curious to see how I’ll feel (in terms of pitching and conditioning),”
“It’s been a while, so everything won’t be perfect, but you have to take the pitches as you think they should be. Even if I’m not at 100 percent, I have to pitch close to 100 percent.”
“We have six starting pitchers, Moon Dong-joo, Kwak Bin, Lee Yi-ri, Won Tae-in, Oh Won-seok and Choi Seung-yong, but we will watch their training and use the pitcher with the best physical condition,” Ryu said. Moon Dong-ju, who impressed at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is likely to get the nod.
Having never stood on the mound at the Tokyo Dome, dubbed the “heart of Japanese baseball,” Moon expressed his desire to pitch in front of a packed house, and vowed to give it his all, especially if he is given the starting job against Korea. “I will throw with even more eagerness than in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games,” he said.