Big leaguer Tommy Edman 'excited' to represent Korean heritage at WBC
Big leaguer Tommy Edman 'excited' to represent Korean heritage at WBC
Blog Article
When the World Baseball Classic (WBC) rolls around in March, Korea will have the luxury of deploying two superb, Gold Glove-caliber defenders up the middle.
At shortstop will be Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres, a Gold Glove finalist at the position in the National League (NL) last year. To his left will be the 2021 NL Gold Glove winner at second base, Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals.
For the first time in its WBC history, Korea has taken advantage of the tournament's loose regulations on eligibility. Players can represent the country of birth for either of their parents, even if the players themselves aren't citizens of that country. Edman, born in the United States to an American father and a Korean mother, is the first half-Korean to represent Korea at an international baseball tournament.
In a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday from San Diego, exactly a week after Korea's 30-man roster was announced, Edman said he was looking forward to forming a formidable double play combo with Kim.
"He's a really great player, really good on defense, and I'm excited to play up the middle with him," Edman said of his future Korean teammate. "It's going to be fun turning some double plays, and I'm sure we'll have one 스포츠 of the best defensive middle infields in the tournament."
Edman, a Gold Glove finalist for both second base and the newly-created utility player position in 2022, said he found out last summer he could have a chance to play for Korea.
Around that time, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), which operates the national team at professional competitions, said it was open to selecting players of Korean descent born outside the country for the WBC. KBO sent national team officials to the U.S. to meet with eligible players, including Edman, in September.
About a month and a half later, Edman, whose mother still has a Korean copyright, was told he'd be on the Korean team. Manager Lee Kang-chul unveiled his 30-man squad on Jan. 4. Lee chose several groundball pitchers, and will look to Edman and Kim to gobble up worm killers left and right.
Edman, 27, said his family was just as happy as he was with the opportunity.
"This is an opportunity to represent my Korean heritage that I haven't had the chance to do in the past," Edman said. "I'm very excited to represent the country of Korea, and especially excited to play with my Korean teammates and meet a few great baseball players who I will hopefully see playing in the major leagues."
Edman isn't just a defensive specialist. He has stolen an NL-best 62 bases over the past two years. The switch hitter set career highs with 13 home runs and 95 runs scored last year, while posting a .725 on-base plus slugging (OPS), up 30 points from 2021.
"Being a switch hitter, I think I put together very consistent at-bats. Hopefully, I'll get on base a lot for the guys in the middle of the lineup," Edman said. "And I steal a lot of bases as well. So hopefully, I'll cause some excitement on the bases and score a lot of runs for the Korean team.