“If a major candidate can be selected, I will make preparations according to the situation and try to do a good job.”
“(The representative team) certainly has the desire to stay until the end.”
Shin Min-jae (LG Twins) and Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos) have their sights set on the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
First of all, Shin Min-jae, who has been wearing the LG uniform since the 2018 season after joining the Doosan Bears as a development player in 2015, is a right-throwing, left-handed second baseman with a dramatic story. Until the 2022 season, he was just an ordinary general, but starting in 2023, he became an upright core member of the team. His total results are, participating in 580 games, a batting average of 0.291 (1265 effective at-bats, 368 hits), 1 home run, 141 RBI, 106 stolen bases and an OPS (out base rate + slugging rate) of 0.723.
The best part is this year. In 135 games, he led LG’s V4 with .313 (463 effective at-bats, 145 hits), 1 home run, 61 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. After the season, he received a call from the Korean Baseball National Team led by coach Ryu Ji-hyun and hit hard in the 2025 NAVER K-BASEBALL SERIES (K-Baseball Series) with the Czech Republic and Japan.
Kim Joo-won’s activity is also very dazzling. In the first round of the second round of 2021, all No. 6 players were called by NC. Kim Joo-won is the current and future right-throwing two-hit shortstop resource of the Dinosaurs. Participated in a total of 570 games, with a batting average of 0.254 (1,766 effective at-bats, 448 hits), 49 home runs, 231 RBIs, 91 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.747.
This year it has shown rapid growth momentum. With the full support of NC team head coach Lee Ho-jun, he hit .289 (539 effective at-bats, 156 hits), 15 home runs, 65 RBIs, 44 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.830 in 144 games. The NC team led by Kim Joo-won miraculously reached the top five. In the K-Baseball Series, he faced the sadness of his grandfather’s death, but in the second game against Japan, he hit a game-tying solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, showing his huge presence.
At the 2025 KBO Golden Gloves Awards Ceremony held at the World Crystal Ball Hall of Lotte Hotel Jamsil, Seoul on the 9th, two players wore the Golden Gloves in the second baseman and shortstop categories respectively. Shin Min Jae and Kim Joo Won won the Golden Glove Award for the first time.
And both fighters are eyeing the 2026 WBC, which will be held in March next year. At the WBC’s first preparation training camp to be held in Saipan next month, the two of them were also on the list at the same time.
Their own desires are also very strong. Shin Min-jae said: “If (selected for the national team), I will work very hard. Everyone has a sense of responsibility and a sense of burden. If he is not a second baseman, as long as a substitute player is selected, I will be prepared according to the situation.”
Kim Joo-won said: “He entered the first round list first. Of course he has the desire to stay (in the representative team) to the end. He has played a lot this year, so he will prepare well for the offseason.”
In the WBC, the keystone partners (second baseman and shortstop) of the representative team are likely to be Kim Hye-sung (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Kim Ha-sung who are active in Major League Baseball (MLB). However, it is necessary to deal with unexpected variables such as injury or poor condition. Under such circumstances, Shin Min-jae and Kim Joo-won announced that they are ready to compete with overseas factions through their active performances this year. Whether their upward momentum can continue in the WBC has also attracted much attention.
[MK体育记者 李汉柱]
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