KIA's No. 2 spot changes 'again'! This time, '6walk 18strikeout' Adellin and Han Jun-soo, with a 'batting average of 0.400', will bat at No. 6 and catch. [Gwangju Field Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers has once again made a change to its No. 2 spot in the batting order. This time, it is Adellin Rodriguez (35), who hit a home run the previous day (on the 2nd).

On the 3rd, ahead of their home game against Lotte Giants at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season, KIA announced its starting lineup.

On this day, KIA arranged its batting order as follows: Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Adellin Rodriguez (first baseman), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (designated hitter), Han Jun-soo (catcher), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Park Min (shortstop), and Kim Gyu-seong (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Hwang Dong-ha.

This marks Adellin's first appearance at the No. 2 spot in his KBO debut. Adellin, who joined the team on the 5th as a temporary replacement foreign hitter due to injury, attracted high expectations with his power-hitting ability, hitting 9 home runs in 23 games and 92 plate appearances, starting with a home run in his debut at-bat.

Thanks to his slugging percentage of 0.595, which indicates strong extra-base hits, Adellin's poor strikeout-to-walk ratio has been understood. As of the game on the 3rd, Adellin had a batting average of 0.238, an on-base percentage of 0.293, 6 walks, and 18 strikeouts, showing he is not particularly strong in plate discipline. Consequently, his spot in the lineup has consistently hovered around the 3rd to 6th positions, near the heart of the order.

This is a continuation of Manager Lee Beom-ho's recent concerns about the No. 2 spot. The previous day (on the 2nd), the manager had expressed his worries, stating, "Everyone has a preferred batting order. Putting (Kim) Sun-bin at the No. 2 spot continuously is causing fatigue, which is concerning. When his hitting was good, he went through without issues, but once his pace slowed, everyone is feeling physically strained to some extent."

Han Jun-soo, who appeared at the No. 2 spot for the first time in two years the previous day, performed his role well. He recorded 1 hit in 3 at-bats, including a double, with 1 RBI and 1 walk, achieving a multi-hit appearance, and led the team to victory with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning. Han's walk-off was his second career and the first via a sacrifice fly.

Han Jun-soo is currently classified as a player optimized for the No. 2 role at KIA. In 47 games, he has posted a batting average of 0.312 (125 at-bats, 39 hits), 5 home runs, 19 RBIs, 24 walks, 21 strikeouts, an on-base percentage of 0.421, a slugging percentage of 0.528, and an OPS of 0.949, earning evaluations that his plate discipline and contact ability have significantly improved.

However, handling the No. 2 role while also playing catcher was somewhat challenging. On this day, Han Jun-soo focused on the strong pitching of Hwang Dong-ha, a May MVP candidate. Hwang recorded 4 wins with no losses in 5 games in May, with an ERA of 1.48, 30 1/3 innings, 5 walks (4 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch), 24 strikeouts, and a batting average against of 0.227, leading KIA's resurgence.

The pitchers they will face are no pushovers either. This year, Kim Jin-wook has shown improvement with 10 games, 2 wins, 3 losses, an ERA of 3.38, 58 2/3 innings, 17 walks, and 48 strikeouts. For KIA, the key will be to attack the more difficult changeup of the left-handed pitcher.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.