Israel and South Korea are set to meet at 12:00 (CEST) today on the second day of the 2020 Olympic baseball tournament. South Korea will be sending the 21-year-old right-hander Won Tae-in to the mound, while the Israelis will counter with Jon Moscot, who has 33 major league innings over parts of two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds under his belt.
Israel will be making its Olympic debut, while South Korea is the reigning Olympic champion, having won the gold medal at the last Olympic baseball tournament in Beijing in 2008.
Won will make his debut for the South Korean national team when he takes the ball today, and he does so after an impressive start to the 2021 campaign with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). He has a 2.54 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 92 innings of work with the Lions this season.
Moscott pitched parts of two seasons with the Reds (2015-16) and also served as a minor league pitching coach for the club after a series of arm injuries kept the fourth-round draft pick from developing his full potential. He made his return to the mound for Israel at the 2019 European championship in Germany, and his success on the mound helped paved the way for the squad’s eventual qualification for the 2020 Olympics.
The two teams are competing in Group B at the six-team Olympic tournament alongside the USA.
Japan and the Dominican Republic started tournament play yesterday, with the hosts celebrating a 4-3 walk-off victory (box score).
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