KIA's Kim Do-young and 'No. 1 and No. 2' swapped places. Why?... The manager reveals the reason [Jamsil on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

After narrowly losing to the Doosan Bears by one run the previous day (26th), the KIA Tigers made changes to their starting lineup.

KIA will face Doosan at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 5 p.m. on the 26th in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season away game.

KIA lost the previous day's game against Doosan 2-3. They trailed 0-3 and were pushed back until the bottom of the 9th inning, where they scored two runs against Doosan's closer Lee Young-ha, but ultimately fell short. At the same time, their winning streak ended at '4'.

And the next day, they face Doosan with a slightly altered starting lineup.

On the 27th, KIA constructed its starting lineup in the following order: Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Park Jae-hyun (right fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Na Sung-beom (left fielder), Castro (designated hitter), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Byun Woo-hyuk (first baseman), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Park Min (shortstop). The starting pitcher is Shirakawa.

Compared to the previous day, the most noticeable change is that Park Jae-hyun and Kim Ho-ryeong swapped positions between No. 1 and No. 2. Byun Woo-hyuk takes over at first base, while Castro, who started at first base the previous day, now starts as the designated hitter. The starting catcher also changed from Han Jun-soo to Kim Tae-gun. Park Jung-woo, who hit three hits the previous day, will start the game from the bench.

KIA manager Lee Beom-ho, the team's commander, said, "(Kim) Ho-ryeong hit well against Jacklog. (3 at-bats, 2 hits, 1 walk). We also considered that if Ho-ryeong bats, it puts pressure on the opposing first baseman, which could lead to hits. In fact, we considered moving (Kim) Sun-bin down to the No. 2 spot, but if there are fast runners ahead of (Kim) Do-young, they can pressure the opponent. If a long hit comes out, we thought we could easily take one or two runs. It has to fall into place well," expressing his expectations.

KIA, which ended its winning streak at '4' the previous day, holds a record of 41 wins, 1 tie, and 34 losses, placing them in fourth place.

KIA's starting pitcher Shirakawa has appeared in four games this season, recording 2 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 4.82.

Meanwhile, facing KIA, Doosan set its starting batting order as follows: Jeong Soobin (center fielder), Ryu Seung-min (right fielder), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Kim Min-seok (right fielder), Kim In-tae (designated hitter), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Park Sung-jae (first baseman), and Park Chan-ho (shortstop). The starting pitcher is Jacklog.

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*This content was translated by AI.