Kiwoom Heroes Lee Jung-hoo (25), who is about to advance to the major leagues, is interested in what kind of performance he will show in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

On the 5th (Korean time), MLB.com, the official major league media, introduced the expected matchups at the WBC. Among the Korean players, Lee Jung-hoo was the only one on the list.

Last season, Lee Jung-hoo recorded a batting average of 3.49 li (193 hits in 553 bats), 23 homers, 113 RBIs, OPS .996 in 142 games last season, and won the league MVP with 5 batting crowns (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, RBI, most hits). did. Lee Jung-hoo, who had the best season, plans to advance to the major leagues through a post after the end of this season.

MLB.com paid attention to the match between Lee Jung-hoo and Japan’s rising ace prospect Loki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte) at the WBC. Sasaki is a 21-year-old fireballer who became a hot topic last year by achieving the youngest perfect game in Japanese professional baseball. He showed off his tremendous potential by recording 9 wins, 4 losses, and an average ERA of 2.02 in 20 games (129⅓ innings) last season, with a fastball exceeding 160 km/h and a sharp forkball. 스포츠토토

MLB.com, which introduced Lee Jung-hoo and Sasaki, said, “The confrontation between Lee Jung-hoo and Sasaki is a world-class star and is expected to be a confrontation between prospects who can play in the major leagues in the future.” all. He will make it to the major leagues after this season. Sasaki is only 21 years old, but he is already a right-handed pitcher who throws the strongest fastball in Japan. He recorded 102 miles (164.2 km) and achieved a perfect game with 19 strikeouts last year. Both Korea and Japan were placed in Group B in the first round and will face off on the 10th.”

However, the possibility of a face-to-face confrontation between Lee Jung-hoo and Sasaki is not high. Japanese media are predicting Yu Darvish (San Diego) as the starting pitcher for Japan’s match against Korea, and Sasaki is predicted to start against the Czech Republic.

Fans have high expectations of what kind of performance Lee Jung-hoo and Sasaki, who are already receiving a lot of attention from the major leagues, will gather on the WBC stage.