'Son Ho-young OUT' Lotte makes lineup changes! 'Former Japanese independent league outfielder' officially registered

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants made changes to its starting lineup on the previous day (the 16th) in an effort to avenge its defeat and turn around its momentum. At the same time, it registered development player Jo Min-young, who had impressed by dominating the Futures League, as a regular player, deploying a key move for a major second-half comeback.

On the 17th, Lotte announced its starting lineup ahead of its away game against Samsung Lions in the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League' at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

The most notable change in the lineup announced today was the absence of Son Ho-young. After struggling with 3 at-bats, no hits, and 2 strikeouts as the starting right fielder and No. 8 batter in the game on the 16th, Son Ho-young was suddenly excluded from the starting lineup. With a key card for both offense and defense removed, Lotte made significant adjustments to its batting order.

Lotte set up its batting order today as follows: Hwang Seong-bin (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (right fielder), Victor Reyes (left fielder), Han Dong-hee (designated hitter), Noh Jin-hyuk (first baseman), Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), Park Seung-wook (third baseman), and Son Seong-bin (catcher). Na Gyun-an will take the mound as the starting pitcher. Compared to the lineup on the 16th, Ko Seung-min, who moved from first base to right field, was placed in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, and Noh Jin-hyuk replaced Ko Seung-min at first base.

Along with the lineup changes today, Lotte announced that it had converted outfielder Jo Min-young (21) from a development player to a regular registered player. Standing 186cm tall and weighing 92kg, Jo Min-young is a right-handed batter and thrower who plays outfield. A graduate of Sinil High School, he experienced the pain of going undrafted in the 2024 rookie draft but chose not to be discouraged and instead took a different path. As Jo Min-young was registered in the first-team roster, outfielder Kim Dong-hyun was removed from the first-team roster.

Instead of attending university, he joined Ibaraki Astro Planets of the Japanese independent league (BC League), which plays many games, and honed his skills over two seasons from March 2024 to September 2025. Lotte Giants, impressed by his continued growth while maintaining his hitting touch, proposed a development player contract in September 2025, allowing him to make a dramatic entry into the KBO League.

Jo Min-young's performance in this year's Futures League was truly unparalleled. He played in 59 games this season in the Futures League, recording an overwhelming .345 batting average, 6 home runs, 36 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.940, competing for the Southern League batting title. He also participated in the Futures League All-Star Game held on the 10th as a member of the Southern League team.

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*This content was translated by AI.