Exports News Arizona (USA), reporter Park Yoon-seo) “(Go) Young-pyo and (Kim) Won-joong are juniors in Gwangju. When I first came to the national team, I said, ‘Finally, the day has come when I can play baseball with (Yang) Hyeon-jong.’ He talked.”
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) baseball team trained on the 19th (Korean time) at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, USA. This is the second official training after the last 16 days.
On this day, Yang Hyeon-jong was the only one who digested the bullpen pitching. After the bullpen pitching was over
Yang Hyeon-jong took a big tour of the ground and also engaged in running training.
After morning training, Yang Hyeon-jong responded to an interview with reporters. When asked how he felt about pitching in the bullpen, he replied, “I don’t feel bad. I practice in Korea and go to Japan to play an evaluation game. I’m preparing well according to the plan.”
The national team will play four practice games from the 20th (against KIA) to the 23rd (against KT), the 25th (against KT), and the 27th (against LG). Yang Hyeon-jong did not appear in the national team’s first practice game against the NC Dinos on the 17th. If so, when will his first appearance be?
Yang Hyeon-jong said, “Tomorrow, I will not play against KIA. I think I will play at least 2 out of the remaining 3 games. I have not yet been informed of what role I will play. I am preparing well for the game.”
Yang Hyeon-jong leads the national team mound as a pitching team leader along with Kim Gwang-hyun. Young pitchers such as So Joon So, Chang-mo Koo, and Yoon-shik Kim will value the time they spend with their ‘mentor’ Yang Hyeon-jong.
Yang Hyeon-jong said, “I talk a lot with young pitchers. (Lee) Loyalty is originally on our team, (So) Hyung-jun, (former) Chang-mo, and (Kim) Yun-sik ask a lot. As much as I can tell you. I want to tell you. The future of Korean baseball is bright when young players do well. I want to tell you what I can do as much as possible.”
Continuing, Yang Hyeon-jong continued to talk about Gu Chang-mo. He said, “When Changmo met me, I asked him how he pitched a lot of innings since he had never pitched a regular inning before. When we met Changmo during the regular season, we talked a lot. Also, So Joon Sohn and Yoonshik Kim asked about body care and innings.” said.
Yang Hyeon-jong also told stories about his juniors from Gwangju. He said, “Youngpyo and Wonjoong are juniors in Gwangju. When I first came to the national team, they said, ‘Finally, the day has come when I can play baseball with Hyeonjong hyung.’ Time really flies,’ I thought. Exercising with Youngpyo and Wonjoong reminds me a lot of my childhood.”