"A 19-year-old rookie is amazing." It's been 8 years since Kang Baekho! KT Lee Kang-min will start the opening game of the 9th shortstop... All LG lineups revealed [the scene of Jamsil]

*This content was translated by AI.

KT Wiz rookie Lee Kang-min (19) has written the history of starting the opening game as a high school graduate in eight years since Kang Baek-ho (27, Hanwha Eagles).

KT announced the starting lineup for the opening game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season against KT Wiz at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 28th.

On this day, KT formed a lineup of Choi Won-joon (center fielder), Kim Hyun-soo (first baseman), Ahn Hyun-min (right fielder), Sam Hilliard (left fielder), Ryu Hyun-in (second baseman), Junghoon Lee (designated hitter), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Han Seung-taek (catcher), and Lee Kang-min (striker). The starting pitcher is Matt Sauer.

The most noticeable player is by far rookie Lee Kang-min. Lee Kang-min is a right-handed uta infielder who joined KT as the 16th in the second round of the 2026 KBO rookie draft after graduating from Song Ho-cho, Ansan Joongang Middle School and Yushin High School.

With his outstanding shortstop defense reminiscent of coach Park Jin-man, he caught the attention of coach Lee Kang-chul from last year's closing camp. In the exhibition game, he played in all 12 games and marked a batting average of 0.219 (7 hits in 32 times at bat) with two RBIs and one stolen base rate of 0.242 with a slugging rate of 0.281.

It has been eight years since Kang Baek-ho played against the Gwangju KIA Tigers on March 24, 2018, when a high school graduate started the opening game. Overall, on March 22 last year, Yeo Dong-wook (20, Kiwoom Heroes) played against the Daegu Samsung Lions.

Before the game, head coach Lee Kang-chul said, "I thought about using Kwon Dong-jin to start Lee Kang-min. But I've been saying that Lee Kang-min is the main player from the beginning, and I think it's better to go as it is from the beginning than to change it to the first game," he explained.

With 23,750 full-capacity spectators gathered at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the same day, it is a fairly unfamiliar starting lineup even for KT fans. Even compared to last year, all are new faces except third baseman Huh Kyung-min. Transfer Choi Won-joon took the leadoff, and another FA transfer Han Seung-taek wore a catcher mask instead of Jang Sung-woo, who has back pain.

For Han Seung-taek, he is the first starter in three years since the match against Incheon SSG Landers on April 1, 2023, when he was at KIA. It is also the first individual opening starter for Ryu Hyun-in, who has a designated hitter Junghoon Lee and Futures batting average of 400.

Coach Lee Kang-chul was surprised that all the starting lineup had changed except Heo Kyung-min, saying, "Wasn't there Ahn Hyun-min?" and added, "Jang Sung-woo also has a bad back, so I'm going to use it in the second half." He also said, "Chirinos is weak in left-handed hitting, so I gave a win."

Meanwhile, LG's lineup is composed of Hong Chang-ki (right wing), Shin Min-jae (second baseman), Austin Dean (first baseman), Moon Bo-kyung (designated hitter), Park Dong-won (possession), Moon Sung-joo (left wing), Oh Ji-hwan (striker), Koo Bon-hyuk (third baseman), and Park Hae-min (middle fielder). The starting pitcher is Yoni Chirinos.

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*This content was translated by AI.