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Young KBO stars to test mettle vs. world No. 1 Japan in Tokyo

Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 11:31

Korean players warm up before a practice session at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 11, ahead of exhibition baseball games against Japan in Tokyo. [YONHAP]

Up-and-coming stars in the Korean baseball league will get to test their mettle against the mighty Japan this weekend as the two countries renew their rivalry in exhibition games in Tokyo.

Korea and Japan will go toe-to-toe at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 7 p.m. Sunday, both times at Tokyo Dome.

The KBO scheduled these games, along with two earlier games against the Czech Republic in Seoul, to help the national team gear up for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March next year. Korea, Japan and the Czech Republic will all play in Pool C in the preliminary round, with Australia and Chinese Taipei being the two other nations in the group.

Korea handled the Czechs with ease, beating them 3-0 while striking out 17 batters and then pounding them 11-1 behind 17 hits.

But Japan, the 2023 WBC champion and world No. 1, will present a whole different challenge for Korea and its manager, Ryu Ji-hyun. Korea has lost nine consecutive games against Japan in pro-vs.-pro competitions, including the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2023 WBC. Ryu has repeatedly said this week that he will try to win both games in Tokyo even though they are only pre-WBC tuneups because any game against Japan carries extra significance.

On this trip, Ryu has taken a team mostly made up of 20-something rising stars in the KBO and, in the cases of rookie pitchers Jeong Woo-joo and Bae Chan-seung, two teenagers not even a year out of high school. The 26-year-old left-hander Son Ju-young is the oldest pitcher on the team.

Korean baseball team manager Ryu Ji-hyun watches his players during a practice session at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 11, ahead of exhibition baseball games against Japan in Tokyo. [YONHAP]

The position player group features the leading KBO Rookie of the Year candidate Ahn Hyun-min, who led the league with a .448 on-base percentage and ranked second overall with a 1.018 on-base plus slugging. Ryu has already anointed the 22-year-old as the team's No. 2 hitter for both games in Tokyo.

Roh Si-hwan, with a pair of 30-homer, 100-RBI campaigns under his belt at age 24, and Moon Bo-gyeong, coming off his second-straight 100-RBI season at 25, will be batting in the heart of the order. Infielder Song Sung-mun, scheduled to be posted for MLB clubs this winter, is ancient on this team at 29.

Since the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, the KBO has been assembling national teams with younger players to give them an early taste of international competition ahead of the 2026 WBC. Several players who competed at the under-24 Asia Professional Baseball Championship in 2023 and the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in 2024 have made the trip to Tokyo this week.

Members of the Korean national baseball team sign autographs for fans at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on Nov. 12, before traveling to Tokyo for exhibition games against Japan. [YONHAP]

The current roster is without MLB players, such as Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants, Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers and free agent infielder Kim Ha-seong. The KBO is also gauging interest among U.S.-born players of Korean descent, including Detroit Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones.

Japan, too, will play without its MLB stars like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, a trio of pitchers — with Ohtani being a two-way unicorn — who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win their second straight World Series title earlier this month. But the Samurai Japan is still a stacked team, as Ryu pointed out this week, with some of the top players from the Nippon Professional Baseball.

Position players to watch include Hiroshima Toyo Carp infielder Kaito Kozono, who won the Central League batting title with a .309 average; Hanshin Tigers outfielder Shota Morishita, who finished second in the Central League with 23 home runs; and Yokohama DeNA BayStars infielder Shugo Maki, one of five players from the 2023 WBC championship squad on the current team.

The pitching staff features the reigning saves leaders from both the Central League and the Pacific League: Shinya Matsuyama of the Chunichi Dragons (46 saves) and Kaima Taira of the Saitama Seibu Lions (31 saves). Lions left-hander Chihiro Sumida set new career bests with 10 wins and a 2.59 ERA this year, ranking eighth in the Pacific League in the latter category.

Yonhap