'With' Kiwoom overflowing with starters, no two-start week for Alcantara! Order: Oh Seok-ju, Bae Dong-hyun, An Woo-jin, Ha Young-min, Park Jun-hyeon

*This content was translated by AI.

A 'happy dilemma' has begun for the Kiwoom Heroes' starting rotation. With the smooth return of 'ace' An Woo-jin (27) from injury and the surprise strong performance of rookie Park Jun-hyeon (19), major changes have occurred in the starting rotation. The key is to avoid having ace starter Raul Alcantara make two starts in a week.

Kiwoom manager Seol Jong-jin announced his starting rotation plan for the week ahead of the away game against the Lotte Giants at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium on the 28th. The most notable point is the cancellation of Alcantara's two-start schedule for the week.

According to the original schedule, Alcantara, who was set to face Lotte on the 28th, should have started on Sunday after four days of rest. However, Manager Seol decided to give him rest instead. Manager Seol stated, "Alcantara will pitch today and then be removed from the roster," adding, "He was supposed to rest for four days and start on Sunday, but we decided to rest him for the sake of managing his stamina." This is interpreted as a long-term operational strategy for the number one starter.

The vacancy left by Alcantara will be filled by rookie Park Jun-hyeon, who secured a victory in the previous game against the Samsung Lions on the 26th. Park delivered a scoreless five-inning performance in the game against Samsung on the 26th, earning the approval of the coaching staff. Manager Seol commented, "Park Jun-hyeon's control was slightly shaky, but he resolved the crisis on his own and pitched well. It seems focusing on vertical control rather than horizontal control was effective."

Adjusting the start schedule for ace An Woo-jin is also interesting. Although An Woo-jin could start against Lotte on the 30th, Manager Seol decided to give him an extra day of rest and have him start against the Doosan Bears at Gocheok Sky Dome on May 1.

Manager Seol Jong-jin explained, "Bae Dong-hyun will start first, followed by An Woo-jin. Although An Woo-jin has completed his build-up, given his history of surgery, we judged it appropriate to rest him for two more days, so we changed the order." As a result, the mid-week three-game series against Lotte will feature Alcantara, Oh Seok-ju, and Bae Dong-hyun in that order, while An Woo-jin will take responsibility for the first game of the weekend series against Doosan.

Kiwoom's starting rotation is expected to become even more solid in the future, as injured replacement foreign pitcher Rosenberg is scheduled to join. However, there has been no update regarding his employment visa status. Manager Seol noted, "We will consider how to utilize (Park) Jun-hyeon once Rosenberg joins," while also adding, "Oh Seok-ju does not have much starting experience, so it may be difficult for him to maintain the rotation in the long term," hinting at additional starting adjustments to coincide with Rosenberg's arrival.

Considering reserve players such as Jung Hyun-woo and Kim Yun-ha, who are scheduled to return at the end of May, Kiwoom's starting rotation is expected to be more abundant than ever before.

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*This content was translated by AI.