Seoul: St. Louis Cardinals reliever Riley O'Brien and Detroit Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones were among four U.S.-born players of Korean descent named to the South Korean national team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Friday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled the 30-man roster for the March 5-17 tournament, which also includes Seattle Mariners pitcher Dane Dunning and Houston Astros utility player Shay Whitcomb.
According to Yonhap News Agency, all four players were born to American fathers and Korean mothers. Under WBC's eligibility rules, players can represent the country of birth of one of their parents, even if they themselves weren't born in that country. For the 2023 WBC, South Korea had Gold Glove-winning infielder Tommy Edman, who was born in the U.S. to a Korean mother. However, Edman is unavailable this time due to an offseason ankle surgery.
For this year's squad, South Korea has included two other South Korean big leaguers: San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo and Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Kim Hye-seong, along with reliever Go Woo-suk, who recently signed a minor league deal with the Tigers and has yet to play in the big league. Manager Ryu Ji-hyun has filled the remaining spots with KBO stars, including two former league MVPs, Hanwha Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin and Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong.
The South Korean team will feature 15 pitchers, including four left-handers, and 15 position players. The 2025 Korean Series champions LG Twins have the largest KBO representation with six players, followed by the Eagles, the runner-up, with five players.
South Korea will compete in Pool C against Japan, Chinese Taipei, Australia, and the Czech Republic, with all games taking place at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals, which are set to be played in the United States. South Korea aims to overcome past disappointments, having been eliminated in the preliminary round at each of the past three editions - 2013, 2017, and 2023 - after reaching the semifinals in the 2006 WBC and losing to Japan in the championship final in 2009.