Jung Woo-joo (Hanwha Eagles) was also brave at the Tokyo Dome, the "holy place of Japanese baseball...

Jung Woo-joo (Hanwha Eagles) was also brave at the Tokyo Dome, the “holy place of Japanese baseball.”

Jung Woo-joo took the mound as South Korea’s starting pitcher in Game 2 of the 2025 NAVER K-BASEBALL SERIES (K-BASEBALL SERIES) held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 16th.

This series is to prepare for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will be held in March next year. South Korea, which defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 and 11-1 at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 8th and 9th before being completely defeated by Japan 4-11 on the 15th, will end the series with a match against Japan.

사진 확대 The 2025 K-Baseball Series warm-up match between South Korea and Japan was held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 16th. In the top of the first inning, South Korean starter Jung Woo-joo is heading to the dugout after finishing the inning neatly with three outs. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The 2025 K-Baseball Series warm-up match between South Korea and Japan was held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 16th. South Korean starter Jung Woo-joo is pitching hard in the top of the first inning. Photo = Yonhap News

Although it is a warm-up match, it is a meaningful game for South Korea as the losing streak against Japan has been prolonged recently. After coming from behind to win 4-3 in the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 semi-finals, South Korea lost all 10 games against South Korea and Japan, where professional players will face off. Ahead of the WBC, which is called the “Baseball World Cup,” it is necessary to shake off the “Japanese phobia.” At the 2026 WBC, South Korea also belonged to Group C along with Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and the Czech Republic.

In this situation, coach Ryu Ji-hyun chose Jung Woo-ju as the starting pitcher for Game 2 against Japan. Jung Woo-joo, who was drafted by Hanwha as the second overall in the first round in the 2025 rookie draft, is a right-handed pitcher called the present and future of the eagle corps. In 51 games (53.2 innings) this year, he recorded three wins and three holds with a 2.85 ERA. His strength is his fierce pitching, which is enough to strike out 82 strikeouts. In the last minute, he got two opportunities to start, and showed off his presence in autumn baseball.

The recent momentum was also good. In the second game against the Czech Republic on the 9th, he went to the bullpen and scored three strikeouts and no runs in 1.1 innings with a fastball of up to 153 kilometers, earning the honor of Daily MVP.

And Jung Woo-joo showed off his good condition early on this day as well. He handled Murabayashi Kazuki with a catcher foul fly in the top of the first inning. Nomura Isami and Morishita Shota then struck out consecutive times.

사진 확대 The 2025 K-Baseball Series warm-up match between South Korea and Japan was held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 16th. In the top of the second inning, starter Jung Woo-joo, who blocked the crisis with runners on the second and third bases, is heading to the dugout. Photo = Yonhap News

At the beginning of the second inning, his crisis management ability stood out. He gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Maki Shugo. He then drew a pitcher ground ball to Micho Nishikawa, but he made a throwing error and all the runners lived. Afterwards, he faced the second and third bases with one out due to Yuki Kishida’s sacrifice bunt, but he did not lose a point by cooking Tai Sasaki and Taiki Ishigami with second baseman straight hits and strikeouts, respectively.

Jung Woo-joo showed stability in the top of the third inning. He struck out Ryota Isovatata. Murabayashi tied it with a fly to shortstop and also induced Nomura to fly to center field, completing his mission on the day.

The final result was three innings, one out and four strikeouts. The total number of pitches was 53. South Korea, with Jung Woo-ju at the forefront of such a hard fight, is 3-0 ahead of Japan at the beginning of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the third inning, Song Sung-moon (Kium Heroes) hit a two-run timely hit to the right with the bases loaded with one out, which led to Choi Jae-hoon (Hanwha)’s walk, Park Hae-min (LG Twins)’ double to the left, and Ahn Hyun-min (KT Wiz). Han Dong-hee (Sangmu) then struck out, but immediately after, Ahn Hyun-min also homered through a double steal. Following Jung Woo-joo, Oh Won-seok (KT) took the mound.

[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]