\Home run king\ Noh Si-hwan relies on his \one hit\ for the batl
Noh Si-hwan, fourth baseman of the national team, hits a single in the bottom of the seventh inning during the first practice game of the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) between the national team and Sangmu at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, on Monday afternoon.
The KBO"s home run king for the 2023 season, Noh Shi-hwan (23, Korea), will take the field at the Tokyo Dome wearing a Korean flag this time.
Noh will play in the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) on Nov. 16 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Noh, who hit 31 home runs in the league this year and won the home run title five years after his debut, will wear the Korean flag again following the Hangzhou Asian Games.
After batting .438 (7-for-16) with a 1.140 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) at the Asian Games, Noh hopes to use the tournament to establish himself as a solid No. 4 hitter for the national team.
With coach Ryu Joong-il already expressing his faith in him by saying, "He"s the number four hitter," Noh is in top form.
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Noh Si-hwan recently went 5-for-8 with a home run and four RBIs in two scrimmages against Sangsung in Korea, showing that he is ready to become the next big thing for the national team.
Now, he will fight for his country"s honor in his first visit to the Tokyo Dome.
I"m really looking forward to hitting my first home run for my country at the Tokyo Dome, especially since I haven"t gotten a taste of it yet after hitting so hard at the Asian Games.
The Tokyo Dome has a relatively short distance of 110 meters between the left and right fences, and the nature of the dome allows the ball to travel further.
Noh"s home run is also important for the team. With Lee Seung-yeop, Lee Dae-ho, and Park Byung-ho having left the national team, the team is lacking in big guns.
Noh Si-hwan celebrates after hitting a two-run home run with the bases loaded in the eighth inning during the baseball main event Group B match between South Korea and Chinese Taipei at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Shaoxing Baseball Sports and Cultural Center near Hangzhou, China, on Oct. 2.
Kang Baek-ho (KT), who was the only one who could be counted on for a hit, was dropped from the final roster due to injury, and Moon Bo-kyung (LG) was replaced by the Korean Series schedule.
While there are players like Kim Hyung-joon and Kim Joo-won (NC) who can be expected to hit long balls, it is safe to say that Noh Si-hwan is the only player with a typical big bat. For this reason, the role of APBC"s Noh Si-hwan is important.
With Moon Bo-kyung out, Noh will also have to play a bigger role in defense. At the Asian Games, Noh was stable at third base and Moon at first base, but with Moon out, Noh could move to first base.
In practice, second-year player Kim Do-young (KIA) played third base. If this is the case in the game, Noh will need to take the lead in the infield by encouraging the defense. His role in the offense will increase.
This tournament may not be easy for Noh, as young professional players from each country will be playing. Japanese media have already labeled him as a target for South Korea, so he"s likely to face strong opposition.
In many ways, the pressure will be on him, but if he can fulfill his role and make a good impression, he can solidify his place as a mainstay in the national team.