In an away game against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League to be held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Wednesday, Kia deployed its starting lineup in the order of Seo Geon-chang (1st baseman), Choi Won-joon (center fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Socrates Brito (left fielder), Lee Woo-sung (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Han Jun-su (catcher), and Hong Jong-pyo (striker). Yoon Young-chul will be the starting pitcher.
Seo Geon-chang, who is batting hard with a batting average of .550 with a slugging rate of .677 OPS 1.227, came up as the first hitter, following the game against the Samsung Lions in Gwangju on the 7th.
In an interview with reporters before the game, KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said, "Seo Geon-chang and Choi Won-jun have been on base a lot, and they are hitting so well, so I think it would be better to put them in front of the center line. Since injured players are missing from the top lineup, we are trying to make a winning lineup by making some changes."
"He is an outstanding player in what he originally has. He has a tremendous record (201 hits in 2014) as he walks on a path that we have never walked before. You can see why Everidge himself is a high-ranking player. In addition to making a hit, he walks out and walks a lot when he walks out. He is a player who has quite good on-baseball skills as well as being able to play baseball in the snow," coach Lee Bum-ho said. "I am very fortunate to have joined our team."
After being released from the LG Twins after the end of last year's season, Seo Geon-chang transferred to his hometown team KIA under the condition of receiving 50 million won in annual salary and up to 120 million won, including options. Since he had been on the decline for three years since 2021, when he was traded from Kiwoom Heroes to LG during the season, he was skeptical of the possibility of a rebound, but he revived from KIA as seen.
Lee said, "It's strange that I haven't been able to do it until now. I don't know why I had a hard time for the past few years when I saw the routines and practices here. That's how well I was prepared, and I thought I would do well," adding, "I came to our team and am adapting well and displaying good plays. Personally, being able to do it at the end of my career in my hometown also seems to create various synergy effects."
In addition, Han Jun-su wore the starting mask for two consecutive days following the game against LG in Gwangju on the previous day (11th). "I had good offense yesterday, and the combination of balls was quite good," Lee said. "Kim Tae-gun also played for two or three consecutive days, so I decided to use Han Jun-su for one more day," adding, "I don't have a specific catcher to match a pitcher. I will operate the game according to circumstances."
Meanwhile, Kia called up sidearm Park Jun-pyo by removing right-handed pitcher Lee Hyung-bum from its entry into the first division. Park had one save and one hold in four games in the Futures League, and pitched six innings of three hits, one walk and four strikeouts without allowing any points. "Park was throwing very well in the second division. I will call good players into the first division," Lee said.
BY: 스포츠토토핫