The Korean national baseball team has significantly reshuffled its starting lineup ahead of a crucial World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C match against Australia, where Korea must win by at least five runs while conceding two or fewer to advance.
For the match at Tokyo Dome on March 9, Korea has dropped Shea Whitcomb (Houston Astros) and Kim Hye-seong (Los Angeles Dodgers) from the starting lineup.
Whitcomb hit back-to-back home runs against the Czech Republic on March 5 but went hitless in consecutive games against Japan on March 7 and Taiwan on March 8. Kim's only hit in the tournament was a two-run game-tying home run in the fourth inning against Japan.
The revised lineup features Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers, third base), Jermay Jones (Detroit Tigers, left field), Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants, center field), Ahn Hyun-min (kt wiz, right field), Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins, designated hitter), Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles, first base), Kim Ju-won (NC Dinos, shortstop), Park Dong-won (LG, catcher), and Shin Min-jae (LG, second base).
Noh Si-hwan and Shin Min-jae will fill the spots vacated by Whitcomb and Kim Hye-seong. This marks the first start for both players in the tournament.
At a pre-game press conference, Korea head coach Ryu Ji-hyun explained: "Kim Hye-seong hurt his finger when he hit the base during a stolen base slide in extra innings against Taiwan, so we took that into consideration when leaving him out of the lineup."