S. Korea to open WBC training camp in Arizona this week

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean national baseball team will open its training camp for the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC) in Arizona this week, gearing up for a chance at redemption after disappointing performances at previous appearances.

Manager Lee Kang-chul will set up shop in Tucson, Arizona, on Tuesday local time, or Wednesday in South Korea. All but two players of the 30-man team will report on time.

The team's only two major leaguers, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres and Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals, will spend the rest of the month with their respective clubs and will join the national team in March.

The 28 other players are all from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Five of the league's 10 clubs are training in Arizona -- the Kiwoom Heroes, the LG Twins, the KT Wiz, the Kia Tigers and the NC Dinos -- and their national team players will have a short trip to report to camp.

The Hanwha Eagles are also training in Arizona but they don't have a representative on the national squad.

The four remaining teams -- the SSG Landers, the Samsung Lions, the Lotte Giants and the Doosan Bears -- have been working out elsewhere in the United States, Japan and Australia.

The first workout will be Wednesday, with a focus mostly on conditioning and helping players getting acclimated to the new time zone.

With KBO clubs having been in spring training since late January or early February, Lee will throw his players right into game action. South Korea will play a scrimmage against the Dinos on Thursday in Tucson.

The national team is also scheduled to play the Tigers on Sunday, the Wiz on Feb. 22 and 24, and then the Twins on Feb. 26.

The national team will arrive back home on March 1. It will train for two days at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, with Kim set to join.

South Korea will head over to Osaka on March 4 for a pair of official exhibition games against the Orix Buffaloes and the Hanshin Tigers on March 6 and 7. Edman is scheduled to join the team for the first official practice on March 5.

South Korea's first game of the opening round will be against Australia at Tokyo Dome on March 9.

In Pool B, South Korea will also take on Japan, China and the Czech Republic.

The top two teams after round robin will reach the quarterfinals, up against the top two teams from Pool A.

For Pool B nations, all first-round games and quarterfinal games will be at Tokyo Dome. The semifinals and the final will be at LoanDepot Park in Miami, home of the Miami Marlins.

This is the fifth edition of the WBC. South Korea finished third at the inaugural event in 2006 and lost to Japan in the final of the 2009 tournament. However, South Korea crashed out of the opening round in both 2013 and 2017.

World No. 1 Japan is going for its third title, after winning the first two iterations. The Dominican Republic won the 2013 tournament, and the United States captured its first championship in 2017.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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