"An average of 19.5 years old" has been confirmed to start the opening of the Kid Keystone! Rather, veterans compete in the final round. "Only two of Lim Ji-yeol, Park Joo-hong, Lee Hyung-jong, and Park Chan-hyuk." [the scene of Jamsil]

*This content was translated by AI.

The opening lineup of the Kiwoom Heroes 2026 season is slowly being outlined. Unexpectedly, veterans will compete for the last place in the entry that Kiwoom coach Seol Jong-jin is agonizing over.

Ahead of the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO exhibition game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd, head coach Seol Jong-jin said, "The Keystone duo is leaning a lot toward Eo Jun-seo and Park Hang-yeol. Eo Jun-seo had a year of experience and his defense improved a lot. "I have Kim Tae-jin as a result of Park Han-han, and the defense is improving," he said.

On this day, Kiwoom formed a lineup of Lee Joo-hyung (center fielder), An Chi-hong (designated hitter), Trenton Brooks (first baseman), Choi Joo-hwan (third baseman), Park Chan-hyuk (right fielder), Eo Jun-seo (striker), Lim Ji-yeol (left fielder), Kim Gun-hee (past baseman), and Han Jung-gyeol (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Ha Young-min.

Against this, LG consisted of Hong Chang-ki (right wing), Park Hae-min (middle fielder), Moon Sung-joo (left wing), Austin Dean (first baseman), Park Dong-won (captor), Oh Ji-hwan (striker), Koo Bon-hyuk (third baseman), Lee Jae-won (designated hitter) and Chun Sung-ho (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Lachlan Wells.

If it goes to the current plan, it is the birth of the league's youngest kid Keystone duo with an average age of 19.5. Eo Jun-seo (20) is a right-handed, left-handed infielder who joined the team as the 21st overall in the third round of the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Gyeonggi High School. While receiving the opportunity as a shortstop last year, he hit .238 (77 hits in 324 at-bats) in 116 games, with six homers and 27 RBIs, and a 0.305 on-base percentage and a 0.327 slugging percentage.

Park Han-gyeol (19) is the first rookie selected by Kiwoom as the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Jeonju High School. He received a lot of expectations for his outstanding contact tools and also impressed with his poor batting average of 0.227 (5 hits in 22 at-bats) in 10 exhibition games.

It seems to have slightly changed from the previous season's plan. This winter, Kiwoom recruited veterans such as An Chi-hong (36) and Seo Geon-chang (37) in turn, and it was expected that the lineup emphasized experience. Coach Seol Jong-jin said, "In the beginning, I was planning to focus on veteran players rather than young players. However, Seo Geon-chang was good and left due to a finger injury. The backup will be filled by Oh Sun-jin, and An Chi-hong intends to go to first base or designated hitter. Ahn Chi-hong is a more necessary player in batting than in defense, so I'm trying to relieve the burden," he explained.

The corner infield goes to third base Choi Joo-hwan and first base Brooks. For Choi Joo-hwan, it is the first full season opportunity to start third base in a long time since he was with the Doosan Bears. Coach Seol said, "I kept making Choi Joo-hwan to third base in the second half of the exhibition game, but he did it without making a big mistake. "I competed with Seo Geon-chang, but Choi Joo-hwan went out first and made a mistake in the backup as he suffered a finger injury," he said.

The head coach's concern was two seats in the corner outfield. Captain Lim Ji-yeol (31), Park Joo-hong (25), Park Chan-hyuk (23), and Lee Hyung-jong (37) compete with Lee Ju-hyung (25) as the main players. Coach Seol said, "The two seats outside have not been confirmed yet. Two out of four players - Lim Ji-yeol, Park Joo-hong, Park Chan-hyuk and Lee Hyung-jong - plan to start. We plan to change it every four to five times today and test it until the end," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.