![Gwak Been plays catch during a practice session at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/bd5b586e-6963-4419-9940-7c8a2ad68f4b.jpg)
Gwak Been plays catch during a practice session at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]
Korean pitcher Gwak Been got a measure of redemption against the Czech Republic on Saturday, tossing two shutout innings in Seoul to help his team to a 3-0 win in an exhibition game.
Gwak had been charged with two earned runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings against the Czechs at the World Baseball Classic in March 2023, a performance that left a bitter taste in the right-hander’s mouth.
But it was also the case of the box score looking worse than his actual performance, for reliever Jeong Cheol-won allowed both of Gwak’s runners to come home with a double.
For what it’s worth, Gwak insisted Saturday he wasn’t out for revenge.
“I wasn’t as good of a pitcher as I am today,” Gwak said. “So I didn’t really care about what happened back then. Honestly, I pitched well in that game until I gave up a couple of late hits, and I don’t think I performed that poorly.”
As for how he has improved over the years, Gwak said, “I think I am a better pitcher in terms of technique, and I have more conviction in my velocity.”
In that 2023 season in the KBO, Gwak established career bests with 12 wins and a 2.90 ERA. He then tied for the KBO lead in 2024 with 15 wins.
He was limited to only 19 starts and five wins this year, after missing the early portion of the season with an oblique injury. But when healthy, Gwak is still one of the hardest-throwing starters in the KBO, one that the national team staff will likely turn to for high-stakes games at next year’s WBC.
![Gwak Been trains at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Nov. 7. [NEWS1]](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ec1e9774-ec9b-4402-a079-1fdc344062c9.jpg)
Gwak Been trains at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Nov. 7. [NEWS1]
First things first: Korea will play the Czech Republic again Sunday and then will fly to Tokyo to face Japan for two games next weekend.
“Our goal is to win all four games this month,” Gwak said. “I’d love to pitch against Japan next week.”
Gwak hit the leadoff man, Vojtech Mensik, after getting two strikes on him but went on to retire the next six batters — four via strikeouts and two via groundouts.
The two teams, both of them WBC bound, are playing the official ball of the tournament this weekend.
“The ball felt a little more slippery than the KBO ball. With two strikes, I tried to overpower the hitter, and I just lost the grip of the ball,” Gwak said. “I didn’t want to panic too much and tried to focus on getting the next batter out.”
Gwak averaged 151.4 kilometers per hour (94 miles per hour) with his fastball during the season, but the figure ticked up to 153 kilometers per hour on Saturday, with his hardest pitch coming in at 156 kilometers per hour.
Asked if he was satisfied with his velocity, Gwak smiled and said, “I am more than satisfied.”
“I am obviously not in midseason form, but I felt a lot better than I thought I would,” Gwak added.
Second baseman Song Sung-mun, who knocked in the first run with a single from the No. 3 spot, said he was pleased to have opened the series of WBC tuneup games with a victory despite some challenges.
“This was our first game in quite some time, and going up against pitchers we’ve never seen before made things a little difficult,” Song said. “Their pitches had some good movements, and it wasn’t always easy to make good contact on them. But it feels good to win the first game here.”
Yonhap