S. Korean manager wary of Australian pitcher in Olympic baseball qualifying tourney

SUWON, South Korea, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- Preparing for an Olympic baseball qualifying tournament, South Korean national team manager Kim Kyung-moon said Friday he was particularly wary of an Australian pitcher with knowledge of Korean hitters.

With the Nov. 6-8 Premier12 tournament fast approaching, Kim held his first national team practice Friday at KT Wiz Park, home of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club KT Wiz, located in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul.

Kim selected 28 KBO players for the final roster, but with the KBO postseason still ongoing, Kim could only gather nine players from non-playoff clubs, including Yang Hyeon-jong of the Kia Tigers, the regular season ERA leader, and NC Dinos' catcher Yang Eui-ji, the batting champion.

The LG Twins were eliminated in the postseason Thursday, and their three national team representatives, including former major league outfielder Kim Hyun-soo, will join the national team next Tuesday.

"I've been following the postseason, and it's been nice to see everyone play so hard," Kim said. "I hope they continue to do their best the rest of the playoffs."

South Korea will host Group C action at the Premier12, which doubles as the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It will face Australia, Canada and Cuba from Nov. 6 to 8 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

Kim said the opening game versus Australia will be the most important one, and Australia has named one current and one former pitcher from the KBO: Hanwha Eagles' right-hander Warwick Saupold and former Kia Tigers' left-hander Travis Blackley.

Saupold had a solid first season in South Korea this year, going 12-11 with a 3.51 ERA in 2019. He was 6-2 with a 1.85 ERA in the second half.

"We have to watch out for Saupold and keep in mind that Australia could start him against us," Kim said. But on the other hand, it's better for us to face a pitcher that we know than go up against someone completely new. I think our hitters will be ready."

The Premier12 is open to the top 12 nations in the world rankings, and South Korea, at No. 3, followed by Cuba (No. 5), Australia (No. 7) and Canada (No. 10).

Canada also has a KBO pitcher on their roster in right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn, who split his first KBO season this year with the SK Wyverns and the Giants. He went 6-10 with a 4.34 ERA. Justin Morneau, the 2006 American League MVP, and Michael Saunders, former major league All-Star, also made the Canadian team.

Kim said there won't be any easy game for his side but added: "Our players are faces of Korean baseball. They're all great players."

There are three groups of four nations at the Premier12. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Round, to be played in Japan.

The top finisher from the Americas and the top country from the Asia/Oceania region that qualify for the Super Round at the Premier12 will earn direct entries into Tokyo 2020.

Japan is already in the Olympics as the host nation. This means South Korea has to qualify for the Super Round and also finish ahead of Australia and Chinese Taipei at the Premier12 to punch a ticket to Tokyo.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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