'Oh my gosh' KIA 'Lee Pitcher' is out of the opening entry? → I brought him to FA... And the 36-year-old veteran's name disappeared

*This content was translated by AI.

The names of the two veteran pitchers were omitted from the opening entry of the KIA Tigers. The names of Hong Gun-hee (34), who qualified as a free agent and was recruited by KIA, and Lee Tae-yang (36), who wore KIA uniforms through the second draft, disappeared.

KIA will play the opening game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League against SSG Landers at 2 p.m. on the 28th at SSG Landers Field in Incheon. KIA will have James Nail and SSG will have Mitch White as the starting players, respectively.

On the 27th, a day before the opening, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled the opening entry.

KIA's names include Nail and Adam Oler, Lee Eui-ri, Hwang Dong-ha, Kim Bum-soo, Jo Sang-woo, Jung Hae-young, Jeon Sang-hyun, Choi Ji-min, Hong Min-gyu, Sung Young-tak, Kim Si-hoon and Kim Ki-hoon.

The catchers are Han Jun-su and Kim Tae-gun. There are a total of eight infielders, including Kim Do-young, Dale, Kim Sun-bin, Yoon Do-hyun, Oh Sun-woo, Park Min, Jung Hyun-chang, and Byun Woo-hyuk. A total of six outfielders, including Na Sung-bum, Castro, Kim Ho-ryeong, Park Jae-hyun, Park Jung-woo and Lee Chang-jin, were included in the opening entry.

What stands out is that Hong Gun-hee and Lee Tae-yang were eliminated from the entry.

First, Hong Gun-hee is a veteran who signed a one-year FA contract in January with KIA investing a total of 700 million won (650 million won, 50 million won in incentives). It was the moment when Hong Gun-hee, who transferred to the Doosan Bears through a trade in June 2020, returned to her home after six years.

Hong Gun-hee played in exhibition games while playing not only the first spring camp but also the second spring camp schedule. In three exhibition games, he pitched two hits (one homer), two walks, two strikeouts, one run (one earned run) and one blon save, 1.33 in on-base allowed per inning (WHIP) and 0.182 in batting average. On the 19th, he did not take the mound after being shaken by one hit (one homer) and two walks, one strikeout and one run (one earned) in one inning against the Hanwha Eagles. In the end, he was not listed in the opening entry.

On top of that, Lee Tae-yang also failed to board the opening entry. Lee Tae-yang, who seemed to remain a franchise star of the Hanwha Eagles, transferred to KIA through the second draft held in November last year. At that time, he was nominated by KIA as the third overall pick in the first round and moved the team.

In this year's exhibition game, he took the mound in three games and posted a 5.06 ERA. In a total of five ⅓ innings, he had four hits, four walks, four strikeouts, three runs (three earned), WHIP 1.50, and a hit rate of 0.211." The latest mound date was against Doosan on the 22nd, and he pitched one hit, one walk, and one strikeout in one inning at the time.

In fact, KIA has the main character who pitched the best in this exhibition game. It's Kim Si-hoon. Kim Si-hoon walked one and struck out three without allowing a single hit in five ⅔ innings in five games. In the end, KIA manager Lee Bum-ho's choice was first Kim Si-hoon. Still, Hong Gun-hee is an essential bullpen resource for the team. On top of that, Lee Tae-yang is a veteran who can play as a starter as well as a long relief. When will these two veteran pitchers come up and show good performance.

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*This content was translated by AI.