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| South Korea manager Lee Kang-chul watches his team in action during a Pool B game against Australia at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 9. Yonhap |
South Korea will be without the service of its injured closer, Go Woo-suk, for the second straight game at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Friday, a major blow to the team's chances in a crucial game against Japan later in the day.
"We'll think about pitching him maybe in the later round," manager Lee Kang-chul said of Go, who has been dealing with a stiff neck since Monday, during a pregame press conference at Tokyo Dome.
Go had an abbreviated exhibition outing against the Orix Buffaloes on Monday in Osaka with the neck issues. Further tests revealed no structural damage, and national team officials said Go was improving.
However, the right-hander, who led the Korea Baseball Organization with 42 saves last year, was not available in an 8-7 loss to Australia on Thursday and will remain sidelined Friday.
South Korea is trying to pick up the pieces after the frustrating loss from the previous night, and Lee said he'd told his players to keep their heads high.
"I told them not to stay down and beat themselves up," Lee said. "We have more games to play, and I told them we should give our best one game at a time."
Japan, world No. 1 coming off a breezy 8-1 win over China on Thursday, will be favored on paper against South Korea, but Lee said his team will not go down without a fight.
Moments before Lee's presser, Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama had called it "a 50-50 game" that could go either way.
"I think we can conjure up an extra something underneath the surface whenever we play Japan," Lee said. "We've got to play the game. Our players will take the field feeling confident."
Lee said Shohei Ohtani, the two-way sensation for Japan who will bat third as designated hitter Friday, must be kept in check.
"We have to make sure he won't come to the plate with anyone on base," Lee added.
As for his starting pitcher, Kim Kwang-hyun, Lee said, "I hope he can pitch as many innings as he can (within the 65-pitch limit). Then we'll be relying on relievers to handle the rest."
Lee also came to the defense of designated hitter Kang Baek-ho, who committed a baserunning gaffe that cost South Korea a potential tying run in the seventh inning Thursday.
After hitting a double, Kang stepped off the bag momentarily while fist-pumping toward the dugout. Second baseman Robbie Glendinning alertly put the tag on Kang, who was called out following a replay.
Kang has been getting torched on social media over the past 24 or so hours, but Lee inserted Kang into the starting lineup because of his strong recent form.
Lee also asked the media to refrain from asking about Kang's miscue, saying, "We have games to play, and it doesn't do the player any good when we keep talking about that situation." (Yonhap)
