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There is no easy team. But I think Japan is the strongest." Ryu Joong-il (60), head coach of the Korean national baseball team, will send Lee Eui-ri (21, KIA Tigers) as a starting pitcher against Japan, the strongest team he recognized. What was the reason. Ryu Joong-il announced his objection as a starter against Japan on the 17th at an official press conference after winning 3-2 against Australia in the first full league match of the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) qualifying round at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 16th. Lee Eui-ri is a left-hander who graduated from Gwangju Jeil High School and joined KIA in his third year as a first-round pick in the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft. In this year's regular season, he failed to achieve satisfactory results with 11 wins, 7 losses, an ERA of 3.96 in 28 games, and 156 strikeouts with 101 walks (93 walks and eight hits) in 131 ⅔ innings. Due to the injury, he suffered a final replacement at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Lee Eui-ri was substituted after allowing four runs (three earned) in four ⅓ innings due to blisters caught in the middle of his left hand against the LG Twins in Gwangju on September 9. Since then, Ryu Joong-il and KBO Power Enhancement Committee Chairman Cho Kye-hyun watched the game in person, and the replacement was decided as they collapsed with five runs (four earned) in one ⅓ inning against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on September 21. It was judged that KIA and Lee Eui-ri were cured, but the national team had different thoughts. However, that was the case at that time, and Lee Eui-ri's potential and skills were also recognized by coach Ryu Joong-il. Coach Ryu, who met again ahead of the Daegu camp as Lee Eui-ri joined the APBC national team, said, "At the time, I judged that it was a process of blistering." Lee Eui-ri is one of the best ace players in Korea and has to catch a game, but I thought if I could throw more than 70 with that finger, he explained. That belief has not changed even after coming to Japan. At an official press conference where reporters from four countries gathered after the match against Australia, coach Ryu said, "There are many good left-handed pitchers in Japan," affirming Lee Eui-ri as the reason for sending him to the match against Korea and Japan. No one doubts that he is the best left-hander prospect to succeed Ryu Hyun-jin (36, FA), Kim Kwang-hyun (35, SSG Landers), and Yang Hyun-jong (35, KIA). His third career in his third year as a professional proves that he has already won his third Taegeuk mark. After a successful first half of his debut, he boarded the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and took the mound at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). In particular, in March this year, WBC received a lot of attention despite South Korea's humiliating 4:13 by throwing a fast ball at a maximum speed of 155 kilometers per hour on the mound of the Tokyo Dome in the first round match against Japan. Considering that Moon Dong-ju, who experienced the Tokyo Dome for the first time, struggled in the early stages against Australia due to unfamiliar environments such as a slightly high mound, Lee Eui-ri, who has once experienced it, has an advantage. Of course, it is important to check the ball control and the referee's strike zone, which are continuing to be a problem. In the last WBC match against Japan, he surprised everyone with his fast ball, but he also left his homework with three walks and one strikeout during ⅓ innings. Asked by a Japanese reporter to explain the logic in more detail, Ryu said, "When the ball is fast and the ball is well controlled, the opponent can't hit it. "I'll see if my ball control goes well or not from the first inning," he said. However, in order to beat the best opponent, we also need to send out a pitcher who can 'win' skills. The right person was Lee Eui-ri. When the ball control is well controlled, the high point of Lee Eui-ri is more than imagined. Lee Eui-ri recorded a career low with 6.36 walks per nine innings in the regular season this year, but the strikeout rate per nine innings also reached a high of 10.66. Lee Eui-ri's pitch among the starting pitchers who played more than 100 innings was by far the best in the KBO league. Lee Eui-ri will face Chihiro Sumida (24, Seibu Lions) at 7 p.m. on the 17th at Tokyo Dome in Japan. Sumida is a left-hander who throws a mix of curves, splitters, and circle changeups on fastballs with a top speed of 150 kilometers per hour and an average speed of mid-140 kilometers per hour. Since debuting in the first division last year, he has a good control with 9 wins, 10 losses, an ERA of 3.44 and 131 innings, 41 walks and 128 strikeouts in 22 games this year.