The 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) squad, led by head coach Ryu Joong-il, began training at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on June 6.

The team will train in Daegu from June 6 to 13 before departing for Japan on the 14th.

A total of 26 players were selected for the team. However, there were a few players who did not make it to Daegu. Three players are scheduled to play in the Korean Series between the KT Wiz and LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on July 7. LG had pitcher Jung Woo-young and infielder Moon Bo-kyung, while KT had Park Young-hyun. KT outfielder Kang Baek-ho was also included in the final roster, but he was pulled from the team after suffering a right adductor muscle injury in a practice game ahead of the playoffs on March 26. The injury makes it difficult for him to play this season.굿모닝토토 도메인

NC Dinos players Kim Young-kyu, Kim Hyung-joon and Kim Joo-won, who played in the playoffs until the last five days, will join the team on the seventh.

For now, Ryu said he will wait as long as possible for the three players who were unable to join the team due to their participation in the Korean Series. “Kang Baek-ho is out for the season, so I think we’ll have to replace him,” Ryu said. “We’ll wait for the players from the team that made it to the Korean Series. There may be small and large injuries during training, so we will wait as long as possible to see what happens.”

The team was accompanied by seven reserve players. Pitchers Cho Byung-hyun (SSG), Lee Byung-heon (Doosan), Kim Tae-kyung (Commerce), catcher Heo In-seo (Commerce), and infielders Han Tae-yang (Commerce), Na Seung-yeop (Lotte), and Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha) will fill in if there is a vacancy in the final roster.

“There is a possibility that players from the Korean Series will not be able to participate, and there may be injuries,” Ryu said, “so we can train with the reserve roster in future international tournaments.” “We have 14 days to submit the final roster, so we can make substitutions based on their physical condition,” Ryu explained.

Despite having a reserve roster, Ryu’s best-case scenario is for the Korean Series to end quickly. Ryu also emphasized that “we can’t be without Park Young-hyun and Jung Woo-young in the middle of the order.”

The team will leave for Japan on the 14th for Game 6. Even if they join the team immediately without training, LG and KT players will have to wait until the series ends in Game 5 to join them.

For now, Ryu hopes that the existing national team players, along with the reserves, will train together to create synergy along with good-natured competition. “It’s not easy to wear a national team jersey,” says Ryu. “It’s not easy to wear a national jersey, and once you’ve been selected, you can feel a sense of pride, and you can feel proud while playing under the flag,” he said. “But it’s also the last game of the year, so I hope that we don’t miss any time due to injury and do our best until the end.