Preview: Japan, Korea square off at the Taipei Dome in meeting of Asian Baseball Powerhouses

Japan, the No. 1 in the KONAMI/WBSC Men’s Baseball World Ranking, take on No. 6, Korea, at 6pm local time on Friday at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan in a Group B Opening Round game at the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS.

The defending champions opened the WBSC Premier12 2024 with a convincing 9-3 win over Australia on Wednesday at the Vantelin Dome Nagoya. Their only blemish was the sixth inning, when they gave up a pair of long home runs. They had Thursday off to travel to Taipei for their clash with Korea.

On the back of incredible support from their fans, Korea meanwhile entered the win column on Thursday with an 8-4 win over Cuba at Tianmu Stadium. Doyeong Kim did Doyeong Kim things and went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI. The victory got them to 1-1 in the Opening Round standings, as they had lost the first game on Wednesday 6-3 against Chinese Taipei, where they had dug a 6-0 hole after two innings.

Samurai Japan have selected Hiroto Takahashi as starting pitcher for the contest. The 22-year-old right-hander from the Chunichi Dragons pitched his third season in the NPB league this year. He went 12-4 with an ERA of 1.38 in 21 games. He collected 130 strikeouts and walked 34 batters in 143 2/3 innings. He now has a career ERA of 2.10 in NPB. He was the number one draft pick in NPB in 2020.

Korea are sending Seungyong Choi as starting pitcher into the game. The 23-year-old left-hander from the Doosan Bears was 2-0 with an ERA of 6.00 in 12 games (six starts) in the KBO this year. He struck out 21 batters in 27 innings, walking seven. Overall he has a 4.69 career ERA in four seasons with the Bears.

The matchup between the two Asian baseball powerhouses is also one between the winners of the first two editions of the WBSC Premier12. Korea won the first event in 2015 defeating USA in the final. In 2019, Japan won the tournament, defeating Korea 5-3 in the final.

Since 2011, Japan are owning a 23-11 record against Korea. Korea last won against Japan in the 2022 Asian Games, when they prevailed 2-0 in the Super Round. At this year’s WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup Japan won 2-1 in the Super Round en route to the World Championship.