'Go Seung-min starts, Na Seung-yeop and Kim Se-min on bench': Lotte's gambling trio truly returns on Children's Day... Manager also says, "It's natural to feel sorry; they must perform well" [Suwon field]

*This content was translated by AI.

Three of Lotte Giants' four players involved in the gambling scandal have truly returned. Infielder Go Seung-min (26) is named in the starting lineup.

Lotte announced its starting lineup for the away game against KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 5th, part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season.

On this day, Lotte set its batting order as Jang Du-seong (center fielder)-Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder)-Victor Reyes (left fielder)-Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter)-Noh Jin-hyuk (first baseman)-Go Seung-min (second baseman)-Park Seung-wook (third baseman)-Jeon Min-jae (shortstop)-Son Seong-bin (catcher). The starting pitcher is Alvin Rodriguez.

The day before (on the 4th), Lotte had removed infielders Han Dong-hee (27), Kim Min-seong (38), and Han Tae-yang (23) from the first-division roster. On this day, Lotte called up infielders Go Seung-min (26), Na Seung-yeop (24), and Kim Se-min (23).

These players became involved in an incident on the early morning of February 13 during the first spring camp in Tainan, Taiwan, when they visited a gambling venue. The venue was classified as illegal even in Taiwan, and the incident spread across social media and online communities along with CCTV footage from the establishment, causing a major uproar. The Lotte organization immediately reported the matter voluntarily to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Clean Baseball Center. At the same time, the four players were immediately sent back to Korea and placed under disciplinary restriction.

The KBO imposed a 50-game suspension on Kim Dong-hyeok, who visited the venue three times, and 30-game suspensions each on Go Seung-min, Na Seung-yeop, and Kim Se-min. Today marked the 31st game since the suspension was lifted. Before the suspension was lifted, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung (59) personally visited the Gimhae Sangdong baseball field where the players were located and held a meeting with them.

Before the game, manager Kim Tae-hyung emphasized, "It was a careless matter, and regardless, the players did wrong. Being suspended is not the end; they must perform well. It is natural to feel sorry, and playing baseball well on the field is the way to repay the fans."

Go Seung-min will start first. During the suspension period, he played 15 games against university teams and other squads in the Dream Team (third division and rehabilitation team), recording a batting average of 0.254 (15 hits in 59 at-bats), 3 home runs, 13 RBIs, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts, and an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of 0.749.

Regarding Na Seung-yeop and Kim Se-min, there is a possibility they may be used in the later stages of the game. Na Seung-yeop played 16 games without a home run, posting a batting average of 0.316 (18 hits in 57 at-bats), 9 RBIs, 10 walks, 5 strikeouts, and an OPS of 0.774. Kim Se-min played 16 games with a batting average of 0.369 (24 hits in 65 at-bats), 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, 7 walks and hit-by-pitches (6 walks, 1 hit by pitch), 11 strikeouts, and an OPS of 0.954.

Lotte hopes these players will fill the void left by Han Dong-hee, who was removed from the first-division roster due to a right hamstring injury. According to a Lotte organization official, Han Dong-hee will take 4 to 5 days of rest in the rehabilitation team and begin training from this weekend. He is expected to start participating in games from next week.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung stated, "Han Dong-hee has a hamstring injury and needs time. We need to check his condition after 4 to 5 weeks. Could the recent poor batting performance also be influenced by this? If he is 100% ready, he will play." He also added, "In fact, Jeon Min-jae is in a similar situation, and I believe the infield is exhausted. We plan to use Kim Se-min in rotation depending on the situation. He is a player who can cover not only shortstop but the entire infield."

Meanwhile, this is also a matchup between the two teams with the lowest winning percentage on Children's Day. In past Children's Day games, Lotte has recorded 15 wins and 28 losses (winning percentage 0.366), while KT has 1 win and 8 losses (winning percentage 0.111), ranking 9th and 10th respectively.

KT, aiming to bring a victory to its home fans, has set its batting order as Kim Min-hyuk (designated hitter)-Choi Won-jun (right fielder)-Kim Hyun-soo (first baseman)-Jang Seong-woo (catcher)-Sam Hilliard (left fielder)-Kim Sang-soo (second baseman)-Yoo Jun-kyu (center fielder)-Jang Jun-won (third baseman)-Lee Kang-min (shortstop). The starting pitcher is So Hyoung-jun.

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*This content was translated by AI.