Hyeon-soo and Tatsuji, who had their debut in ‘Mother Country’… Proof of the reason for selection

Both Korea and Japan selected foreign players for the first time in the 스포츠토토 World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. Korea’s Tommy ‘Hyeonsu’ Edman, Japan’s Lars ‘Tatsuji’ Nutba. The commonality that both players belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals of the Major League (MLB) also attracted attention. 

Edmon is a Gold Glove winner in the 2021 National League (NL) second baseman category. He has played a full-time season for the past three years in a row. Nutba is the first to play more than 100 games in the 2022 season. He hit 14 home runs, but had a batting average of only .228. He is also a player who is more recognized for his outstanding outfield defense. 

Both players made their WBC debut on the 9th wearing the ‘Mother’s Country’ uniforms. Edman played against Australia, and Nutba played against China. 

Edmund’s hitting feeling was not good even in the official evaluation match against the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes. In the game against Australia, he also appeared as the first batter and second baseman, but was silent until the 6th inning, recording two fly balls and one strikeout. He was silent in the 1st, 4th, and 6th innings after Edmund to another big leaguer Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres). 

His defense was flawless. There weren’t many batted balls that could show Edmund’s unique ‘spider hand’ defense. In the third inning, lead batter Ulrich Boyarsky’s slow batted ball in the middle was caught, but was not caught by throwing. 

Edmund stepped up as the lead batter at the end of the 8th inning, when Korea was losing 4-8, and earned a walk, paving the way for pursuit. He didn’t attack the pitcher who was shaking his pitch, and he calmly won the game. In the ensuing situation, Korea pursued 3 points with 3 consecutive walks and a ground ball. 

In the ninth inning, when the team was losing 7-8, Edmund also went on base with a left-handed hit as the lead batter. Multi on base. However, he also gave the last out count of the match. He tried to steal the base in a situation where the follow-up Kim Ha-seong and Lee Jung-hoo all retreated with a floating ball to the right field, but the catcher’s perfect throw made it out. 

Nutba led Japan to an 8-1 victory with 2 hits and 2 runs in 4 at-bats against China. As the first batter, he got a hit from the first at-bat at the end of the first inning, and in the second inning, he picked up a walk and opened up an opportunity. In the third at-bat in the 4th inning, when Japan was hardly able to score a lot of runs, he hit with no runners and opened up an opportunity in front of Shohei Ohtani, the main player of the Japanese national team. Ohtani hit a double to left center that brought in two runners in the ensuing situation. 

In the beginning of the 3rd inning, with no runners on the first runner, Nutba also showed off a good performance by throwing his body away from China’s leading player Luo Jinjun’s middle outfield hit ball. On the mound, Ohtani raised both hands to express his gratitude. 

Edman and Nutba will go to the Korea-Japan match at the Tokyo Dome on the 10th. Edmund has said that he knows the meaning of this match well. He also expressed his will to win, saying that if he wins the game against Japan, he can tease Nutba, whom he is close to, for a year.

Korea is in danger of being eliminated. Objective power is also behind Japan. Interest in the WBC could die in just two games. Edmon’s efforts are desperately needed. 

Both Korea and Japan selected foreign players for the first time in the 스포츠토토 World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. Korea’s Tommy ‘Hyeonsu’ Edman, Japan’s Lars ‘Tatsuji’ Nutba. The commonality that both players belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals of the Major League (MLB) also attracted attention.  Edmon is a Gold Glove winner in the 2021 National…