"I can go to the big leagues." Will the left-hander of Korea University, who also showed affection for ML career, overcome the "elbow surgery" ordeal
"I can go to the big leagues." Will the left-hander of Korea University, who also showed affection for ML career, overcome the "elbow surgery" ordeal
Blog Article
While the Korean national baseball team led by Ryu Joong-il (61) is preparing for the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament, it is regrettable that there is no familiar name for the pitcher. It is Lee Eui-ri (22), left-hander of the KIA Tigers.안전놀이터
The national team left for Taiwan, where the group round will be held, through Incheon International Airport on the 8th. Korea was in Group B along with Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Australia in the Premier 12 tournament, which will start on the 13th. Here, Korea must secure at least the second place to participate in the Super Round in Tokyo, Japan, starting from November 21.
Team Korea, which started its first training session on Friday, will play its first Group B match against Taiwan after an exhibition game against the Taiwanese pro baseball team on Sunday, a break on Sunday, and official training on Sunday. The biggest concern is the starting pitcher as expected. The team is missing a large number of its main starting pitchers, who led the team to the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the runner-up at the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship. Therefore, only four starting pitchers – Ko Young-pyo (KT Wiz), Kwak Bin, Choi Seung-yong (Dusan Bears), and Lim Chan-kyu (LG Twins) – can take the mound.
Before leaving the country, manager Ryu Joong-il said, "There are only four starting pitchers, so the first game (against Taiwan) starting pitcher will take the mound in the last game (against Australia)," adding, "Since the starting pitcher is weak, we should use a lot of intermediate pitchers."
One of the unfortunate names is Lee Eui-ri. Lee Eui-ri is a left-hander who joined KIA in 2021 as the first draft pick of the KBO Rookie of the Year after graduating from Gwangju Soochang Elementary School, Chungjang Middle School and Gwangju Jeil High School. He played 94 ⅔ in 19 games since his debut in 2021, and became a regular guest of the national team from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He is also strong on the international stage, and during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he threw a fastball of up to 155km/h at Tokyo Dome, showing ⅓ innings of scoreless pitching. At the 2023 APBC, he took the mound against Japan again and achieved a quality start (more than six innings of selection, more than three earned runs) with six hits (one home run), three walks, three strikeouts, and two runs, emerging as a candidate for the national left-hander's genealogy.
However, the pain came to her, who had been steadily growing. She suffered pain in her left elbow in the match against the LG Twins in Gwangju on April 10. At that time, the result of the examination was a sprained left hip flexor muscle, and she chose rehabilitation for now. She returned to the first team at a Futures League match against the Samsung Lions on May 22 and the NC Dinos on May 29, but she felt pain again and was diagnosed with partial damage to the elbow ligament.
Through interviews with the club, he decided on surgery, not rehabilitation, and was officially out for the season on June 20 after undergoing reconstructive surgery and bone fragment removal at Minami Hospital in Yokohama, Japan.
The injury was all the more regrettable because he had outstanding talent. Even foreign pitchers with MLB experience recognized his talent at a glance. One of them was Will Crow (30), who had recorded 10 wins and 21 losses and an ERA of 5.30 in 94 games in the Major League and stayed in the KBO league for a while.
Park Jae-hyung, an interpreter dedicated to KIA foreign pitchers this year, recently told Star News, "Foreign players showed a lot of affection for young players this year. Among them, Crow showed a lot of interest in Lee Eui-ri during the spring camp. The days of pitching the bullpen with Lee Eui-ri were different, but he didn't just go in just because his training was over, but he always watched all of Lee's bullpen pitching."
Will Crow (second from far right) and James Nail are watching Lee Eui-ri (far left)'s bullpen pitching at the Australian spring camp in February.
Will Crow (center) is watching Jung Hae-young (far left)'s bullpen pitching at the Australian spring camp in February.
"He was careful about coaching actively. Instead, when he came down from the mound, he asked Lee's thoughts first, saying, 'I think this would be okay, but what do you think?'" he added.
Lee Eui-ri is an attractive player with a fast fastball with a maximum speed of 155 kilometers per hour, excellent vertical movement, and a slider that bends well outside. This also caught Crow's eye. "What Crow always said was that Lee already has both a strong fastball and a good slider. We talked about how we could throw it better and praised him, saying, "If we add this (changing ball), we can see it in the big leagues."
With full-fledged performance expected from the second half of the 2025 season, the successful return of Lee Eui-ri is also of great interest to KIA. Kim Do-hyun (24) and Hwang Dong-ha (22) shared the vacancy of Lee Eui-ri this year, but as foreign pitchers' future cannot be predicted, domestic pitchers need to work harder.
Ace James Nail (31) is already drawing attention from many Major League teams. Another foreign starter, Eric Lauer (29), has an ERA of 4.93 in seven games, which makes it difficult for Kia to renew the contract. As no starting pitcher other than Yang Hyeon-jong (36) can predict his performance, Lee's performance in the second half of next year will also likely have a significant impact on Kia's bid for the second consecutive championship.