OSAKA, Whenever South Korean right-hander Park Se-woong takes the mound during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), he will do so knowing that he has the luxury of an airtight infield behind him.
A quick peek over his right shoulder from the mound, Park will see Kim Ha-seong at shortstop, fresh off a sophomore campaign for the San Diego Padres in which he was a finalist for the National League Gold Glove at the position. Over Park's left shoulder will be Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2021 Gold Glove winner at second base.
Park had a front-row seat to perhaps the best defensive middle infield at the WBC on Tuesday, when he started against the Hanshin Tigers in South Korea's last exhibition game at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
In two scoreless innings, the Lotte Giants starter induced four groundouts -- two to Kim and two to Edman. They weren't particularly difficult plays, though sometimes lesser fielders botch routine plays.
"I tend to induce a lot of balls on the ground, but we have such strong defense here," said Park, who also got a flyout and a strikeout in his tidy outing. "As long as I trust my defense, I should enjoy great results."
Park is one of a handful of groundball pitchers on this South Korean team. Among all qualifying pitchers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) last year, Park ranked fourth overall with a 1.76 groundout-to-airout ratio. Among homegrown pitchers, only Ko Young-pyo of the KT Wiz, also on the national team, finished ahead of Park.
"I think I did OK today. I tried to throw a lot of strikes and not waste much time out there," Park said. "I wasn't really paying attention to my velocity, but overall, I felt pretty good with how hard I pitched."
Park's key secondary pitch is the slider, which he offers about 28 percent of the time, behind only his fastball (42.4 percent usage). Park, much like other South Korean pitchers, had trouble throwing breaking pitches with the WBC ball, which is slicker and has lower seams than the KBO ball.
Park said he was pleased with the way the slider and also the curveball came out of his hand in Tuesday's game.
"During training camp in the U.S., the ball kept slipping out of my hand," Park said. "But when I threw those pitches today, it felt no different than the regular season game back in Korea."
Source: Yonhap News Agency