Oh Ji-hwan (LG Twins), infielder of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, showed excellent defense in a practice game. 메이저놀이터
Oh Ji-hwan started as a shortstop in the 2023 WBC national team practice game held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 3rd, and prevented the team from facing a crisis by showing an iron wall defense that caught difficult pitches one after another.
Oh Ji-hwan caught Lee Ji-young’s grounder in the top of the 4th inning and threw it cleanly to 1st base, overcoming the risk of conceding runs on 2nd and 3rd base. In the beginning of the 5th inning, in a crisis situation with 1st and 3rd base safely, he stably caught a tricky ground ball flying toward him and continued with a double play. It was the lake rains that aroused admiration.
Oh Ji-hwan is classified as a backup in this tournament. He was overshadowed by active major leaguers Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) and Tommy Edman (St. Louis Cardinals).
Edmon is also the winner of the ‘Gold Glove (National League second baseman)’ given to the best defender in the major leagues in the 2021 season, and Kim Ha-seong is also a player with solid defense enough to rank second in the Gold Glove shortstop category last year. Expectations are high enough that the Keystone combination of the two players will be evaluated as the best duo in the competition.
However, both players were unable to participate in this practice match. Due to the WBC Secretariat’s rules that major leaguers cannot participate in games other than official practice matches, he could not participate. Instead, Kim Hye-seong (Kiwoom Heroes) and Oh Ji-hwan, who won the Golden Glove last year, started as the keystone combination, and Oh Ji-hwan showed off solid defense, threatening the starting position.