'Kim Jae-hwan No. 4 → No. 5 demotion' SSG has lost 3 consecutive games, changed its lineup in less than 20 minutes! What is the No. 1 team thinking about [the scene of Jamsil]

*This content was translated by AI.

Obviously, he is the No. 1 team in the league, but the head coach's face is full of worries. In the end, the batting order was changed within 20 minutes of the release of the starting lineup.

Manager Lee Soo-yong told reporters ahead of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 11th, "The starting lineup has changed." "I thought about it yesterday (10th) and I still think about it, but after discussions with the batting coach, I changed the lineup a little bit," he said.

Initially, the batting order revealed to the reporters by SSG was in the order of Park Sung-han (striker), Guillermo Herredia (left wing), Choi Jung (third baseman), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Ko Myung-joon (first baseman), Han Yu-sum (right wing), Jihoon Choi (middle fielder), Ahn Sang-hyun (second baseman), and Cho Hyung-woo (catcher).

However, in less than 20 minutes, the batting order was changed to Park Sung-han (striker), Jihoon Choi (center fielder), Choi Jung (third baseman), Guillermo Herredia (left wing), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Ko Myung-joon (first baseman), Han Yu-sum (right wing), Ahn Sang-hyun (second baseman), and Cho Hyung-woo (catcher).

Left-handed slugger Kim Jae-hwan went down from No. 4 to No. 5 and Jaryl Herredia filled it. Jihoon Choi's batting order soared from No. 7 to No. 2 to form a table setter with Park Sung-han. SSG coach Lee Sung-yong (55) said, "Rather than changing No. 4, I had a lot of worries about No. 2. We need a role to connect at the beginning, but No. 2 Herredia has an aggressive tendency (at-bats). After much thought, I put Eredia in No. 4."

Jihoon Choi has a batting average of 0.243 (9 hits in 37 at-bats), two homers, six RBIs, nine runs and two steals in 11 games, and an on-base percentage of 0.378 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.864. Although he has a low batting average at the beginning of the season, he is a batter who picks out many balls with four outs (six walks and two hits). Herredia has a batting average of 0.300 (15 hits in 50 at-bats), four homers, 12 RBIs and eight runs scored in 11 games, and an OPS of 0.874, outperforming Jihoon Choi. However, he is not the type to exhaust his opponent's energy with an on-base percentage of 0.314, one walk and 11 strikeouts.

Currently, SSG is tied for first place with 7 wins and 4 losses along with LG and KT Wiz. Nevertheless, the reason for the concern is to overcome the situation in which Park Sung-han, who is the MVP-class, failed to take advantage of his hit and lost three consecutive games. Park Sung-han has the best performance in 11 games with a batting average of 0.513 (20 hits in 39 times at bat) and an on-base percentage of 0.635 slugging percentage of 0.795 OPS 1.430. In response, head coach Lee Sung-yong said, "I thought there was a part where I was blocked by the batting line. He said, "I've also adjusted my batting order to change the atmosphere because I'm losing three games in a row."

The second base position, which is not satisfactory to anyone, is also a concern. It was Jeong Joon-jae (23), who was in his third year as a professional player, but he is also struggling in defense with a batting average of 0.095 (2 hits in 21 at-bats) in 10 games. Kim Min-joon (22) was put in the position, but he left a regret due to an error the previous day (10th). Utility player Ahn Sang-hyun (29), who plays all infield positions, should prepare in case Choi Jung and Park Sung-han are out.

Director Lee Soo-yong said, "The second baseman has a lot of concerns. I'm thinking about plan B and C now. (An) Sang-hyun is going out today, but Sang-hyun believes that it is more helpful to wait in the second half," he said, adding, "Some pitchers have been hit during the three consecutive losses, but I kept getting twisted because of that in the first inning."

What came to mind was a 25-year-old Hongik University man. Hong Dae-in is a right-handed, left-handed infielder who joined SSG as 88th in the ninth round of the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Seowon Elementary School, Segwang Middle School, and Sebyeong Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Currently, he has one hit in four games and two at-bats in the first team.

Director Lee Soo-yong said, "Hong Dae-in is also watching right now. If it doesn't work, the coach has to keep looking for alternatives. You can't give everyone the same chance. If it doesn't work, I'm also considering changing it boldly, he stressed.

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*This content was translated by AI.