[Breaking News] Yoon Dong-hee, Jeong Cheol-won, Koyama, and Kim Min-seong 'shocked' by demotion from 1-man roster! Kim Tae-hyung, manager, finally draws the sword... Kim Dong-hyun, Lee Seo-joon, Park Se-jin, and Kim Kang-hyun called up

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung (59) has finally drawn the sword. Four regular players were simultaneously removed from the 1st-man roster.

On the 19th, Lotte announced its starting lineup for the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season home game against Hanwha Eagles at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium.

On this day, Lotte's batting order was configured as follows: Hwang Sung-bin (center field), Noh Jin-hyuk (first base), Victor Reyes (left field), Han Dong-hee (third base), Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter), Son Ho-young (second base), Lee Ho-jun (shortstop), Son Sung-bin (catcher), and Jang Du-seong (center field). The starting pitcher was Park Se-woong.

Before the game began, there was a shocking adjustment to the 1st-man roster. Regular right fielder Yoon Dong-hee (23), ace reliever Jeong Cheol-won (27), Koyama Masaya (28), and infielder Kim Min-seong (38) were sent down to the 2nd-man roster.

This move comes due to severe slumps. As of the end of games on the 18th, Lotte's team batting average for April stood at a dismal 0.245 (8th in the league). Among them, Yoon Dong-hee hit 0.157 in 14 games in April (51 at-bats, 8 hits), while Kim Min-seong hit 0.077 in 9 games (13 at-bats, 1 hit).

While the starting pitchers have been performing well recently, relievers Jeong Cheol-won and Koyama, who are expected to handle the ace reliever role, have struggled to find their form. Jeong Cheol-won has posted an ERA of 6.23 over 6 games, and Koyama has an ERA of 7.11 over 5 games, with neither performing well even on the previous day (the 18th).

In their place, outfielder Kim Dong-hyun (22), infielder Lee Seo-joon (19), pitchers Park Se-jin (29) and Kim Kang-hyun (31) were called up.

Among them, Kim Dong-hyun has drawn expectations with his one-shot power hitting. Kim Dong-hyun, a right-handed batter who bats left-handed, graduated from Jeongmalpo High School and Busan University of Science and Technology before being selected as the 54th overall pick in the 6th round of the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft. He is a player known for his powerful hitting, having won the home run contest at the 2024 2nd Hanwha Eagles Cup High School-University All-Star Game.

In this year's Futures League, he started strong with a batting average of 0.324 (68 at-bats, 22 hits), 2 home runs, 16 RBIs, 20 walks and hit-by-pitches (18 walks, 2 hit-by-pitches), 13 strikeouts, an on-base percentage of 0.462, and a slugging percentage of 0.559 over 21 games.

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*This content was translated by AI.