Korean baseball falls behind as Japan studies trends

Earlier this year, the book 2025 Pro Baseball Numbers Book was released, using statistics to explain Korean professional baseball. It was co-written by five authors, including Hwang Kyu-in, deputy sports editor at The Dong-A Ilbo, who believes some aspects of baseball can only be learned from books.

Shortly after publication, the Japanese national baseball team reportedly bought several copies. Some players even purchased smartphones with AI translation features to read the book in Korean. A Korea Baseball Association official said the team wanted to track league trends and characteristics as they continue competing against South Korea.

Japanese players and coaches have long valued learning from books. Hideki Kuriyama, who led Japan to the 2023 World Baseball Classic title, has published more than 20 books. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers became an avid reader under Kuriyama’s influence. Current manager Hirokazu Ibata has urged youth players to study, saying today the reasons behind a player’s success are fully revealed and continuous learning is essential.

Japan’s most notable improvement from this approach has been pitching speed. In 2014, Nippon Professional Baseball’s average fastball reached 141.5 km/h, similar to Korea’s 141.0 km/h. By last year, Japan’s average rose to 146.8 km/h, 3.3 km/h faster than Korea’s 143.5 km/h.

Does this difference matter? In the 2023 WBC group stage, the average fastball speed was 147.6 km/h. Quarterfinal teams averaged 150.6 km/h. Korea averaged 145.8 km/h, ranking 16th among 20 teams and exiting the group stage for the third consecutive tournament.

Faster pitches naturally challenge hitters. In Japan this year, with an average fastball speed of 147.1 km/h, only three players hit .300 or higher. In Major League Baseball, where the average reached 152 km/h, just seven players across 30 teams achieved a .300 average.

In Korea’s 10-team league, 13 players hit .300 or higher, showing that pitchers still struggle to dominate. This helps explain why Ponse, who went 3-6 with a 6.72 ERA for Japan’s Rakuten last year, became one of Korea’s top pitchers with Hanwha this year.

Despite this, many Korean coaches complain that private academies focus too much on velocity, leaving pitchers with weak fundamentals. This often results in outdated training methods, such as excessive running drills to strengthen the legs.

Baseball reflects a broader reality: ignoring trends can be costly. What worked yesterday may be wrong today, and failing to adapt leads to falling behind. This article was edited with China’s AI model GLM 4.6. In baseball, technology may outpace the ball, but nothing exceeds the mistake of stopping learning.