Lack of starting pitching depth exposed as S. Korea takes quick exit from Premier12

In taking an early exit from the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in Taipei this month, South Korea was held back by its lack of depth among young, homegrown starting pitchers.

South Korea's fate was sealed Sunday, its first offday of the tournament, when Japan and Chinese Taipei each won its game to grab spots in the Super Round as the top two teams in Group B.

South Korea will not finish higher than third regardless of its result against Australia in the final Group B game later Monday.

In all four games before Monday, starting pitchers for South Korea failed to go deep, which in turn put extra burden on the bullpen. Starters who have had varying degrees of success in the Korea Baseball Organization often struggled to get past opposing hitters the second time through the order.

In the opening, 6-3 loss to Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, Ko Young-pyo of the KT Wiz was chased after just two innings. All six Chinese Taipei runs came in the second inning against Ko, with a grand slam by Chen Chen-Wei and a two-run home run by Chen Chieh-Hsien.

Even in an 8-4 win over Cuba on Thursday, Doosan Bears starter Gwak Been could only go four innings, though he did not give up any run. South Korea needed six pitchers to cover the final five innings -- not an ideal situation with the big showdown against Japan scheduled for the following day.

On Friday, another Bears starter, Choi Seung-yong, lasted just 1 2/3 innings against Japan the following day, as South Korea lost 6-3. The bullpen faltered as South Korea blew a 3-2 lead, with Kia Tigers reliever Kwak Do-gyu being asked to pitch for three consecutive days for the first time in his career.

Facing the Dominican Republic on Saturday, LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu gave up three runs in three innings. The bullpen coughed up three more runs in the middle innings, before the bats woke up for nine unanswered runs in a 9-6 victory.

Im was a last-minute addition to the national team, after Samsung Lions starter Won Tae-in, expected to be a pillar in the rotation, was ruled out after suffering a shoulder injury during the Korean Series in late October.

Other up-and-coming starting pitchers, Son Ju-young of the Twins and Moon Dong-ju of the Hanwha Eagles, were also sidelined with injuries, foiling manager Ryu Joong-il's plans to build his rotation with these hard-throwing hurlers still in their 20s.

Youth was the main theme for Ryu's 28-man roster, with 18 players being 25 years or younger. With the KBO looking to build for the 2026 World Baseball Classic and the 2028 Summer Olympics, Ryu left off veteran starters who could have helped the team in Taipei, including former major league ERA champion Ryu Hyun-jin.

As injuries piled up, the manager had no choice but to select a couple of veteran starters in Ko and Im, the only two pitchers over 30 years old for this national team, but both of them were disappointing.

South Korea did have a few bright spots, though.

At the plate, Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong, the leading candidate for the KBO regular-season MVP this year, had his international breakout with a two-homer day against Cuba.

The WBSC billed him as one of the players to watch at the tournament, and the 21-year-old, coming off a 38-homer, 40-steal campaign in South Korea, lived up to the hype by batting .308/.357/.923 in four games prior to Monday. He led South Korea with two homers and six RBIs, and all four of his hits went for extra bases.

Kim belted a grand slam and a solo shot against Cuba, and also flashed the leather at third base, after leading the KBO with 30 errors. He played with the swagger of a superstar and left major league scouts salivating.

SSG Landers shortstop Park Seong-han ranked second on the team behind Kim with an on-base plus slugging of 1.136, despite sitting out the opening game against Chinese Taipei.

He had two hits apiece against Cuba and Japan, and delivered a lead-flipping, two-run triple in the eighth inning against the Dominican Republic.

At 26, Park enjoyed his most productive offensive season in 2024, setting career highs in homers, RBIs, steals, walks on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He rode that momentum right into the Premier12 to establish himself as the national team's shortstop for the future.

There were some notable performances on the pitching side, too.

Manager Ryu selected five KBO closers for the tournament, and two of them, Park Yeong-hyun of the Wiz and You Young-chan of the Twins, were the most effective.

Park got the final five outs of the win over the Dominican Republic, flashing dominant four-seam fastballs. You ate up 2 2/3 innings as the team's second pitcher against Japan to match his career high. Prior to Monday, You had tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the tournament.

Eagles reliever Kim Seo-hyeon was regarded as a wild card, given his blend of tantalizing strikeout abilities and his well-documented struggles to stay in the strike zone.

At the Premier12, the 20-year-old tossed three shutout innings while striking out three and walking two prior to Monday's game, demonstrating overpowering stuff that made him the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 KBO draft. (Yonhap)