"I'm confident at No. 2 as well." The KIA lineup changed in just five minutes thanks to the youthful energy of a 20-year-old! Lee Ho-yeon and Park Jae-hyun are set to lead off [Gwangju Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

The KIA Tigers' lineup was changed within five minutes. The reason? A single comment from the spirited second-year player, 20-year-old Park Jae-hyun.

On the 6th, KIA announced its starting lineup for the home game against KT Wiz at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season.

For this game, KIA arranged its batting order as follows: Lee Ho-yeon (second baseman), Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Harold Castro (first baseman), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (designated hitter), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Tae-goon (catcher), and Ha Joo-seok (shortstop). The starting pitcher is James Neal.

There was one adjustment to the lineup. Originally, Park Jae-hyun and Lee Ho-yeon were set as the leadoff duo; their order was simply swapped to Park Jae-hyun first, then Lee Ho-yeon. While Lee Ho-yeon has posted a modest .256 batting average (10 hits in 39 at-bats), one home run, eight RBIs, and an OPS of 0.844 across 17 regular-season games this year, he has been on fire recently with a .318 average (7 hits in 22 at-bats) over his last 10 games.

Park Jae-hyun has consistently delivered strong performances alongside Lee Ho-yeon. This season, Park has recorded a .288 batting average (126 hits in 438 at-bats), 15 home runs, 62 RBIs, 67 runs scored, 19 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.784 across 113 regular-season games. He has also performed well recently with a .298 average (14 hits in 47 at-bats) over his last 10 games.

Before the game, KIA manager Lee Beom-ho laughed and said, "We originally planned to have (Park) Jae-hyun lead off, but during practice when he was swinging the bat, Jae-hyun suddenly said, 'I'm confident at No. 2 as well.'"

He continued, "Hearing that made me think both (Lee) Ho-yeon and Jae-hyun have been fluctuating in form lately and might need a change of pace. It also worked well for Ho-yeon when he batted first before. Recently, there's been a tendency to avoid the No. 2 spot, but we want to see our fastest players in those positions. We wanted to observe how Ho-yeon and Jae-hyun perform at Nos. 1 and 2 once more."

KIA's opponent for this game is right-handed pitcher Daniel Davis (29). Known by KT manager Lee Kang-cheol as "a Greg Maddux in the making," Davis excels with pinpoint control. He throws three types of fastballs—four-seam, sinker, and cutter—and uses a changeup as his signature pitch, making him a difficult opponent to face.

Although his maximum velocity tops out at 93 mph (150 km/h), his extended release point reaches 2 meters—longer than his 6-foot-1 (185 cm) height—giving batters the perception of even faster pitches. This potential has already been realized on the mound, where he has posted a 1-1 record with a 2.05 ERA over four games, striking out 21 batters in 22 innings. This will be his first appearance against KIA.

KIA has no major concerns. Their star pitcher, Neal, is set to take the mound. This season, Neal has compiled a 9-6 record with a 3.68 ERA over 25 games, pitching 146⅔ innings while striking out 122 batters and maintaining a WHIP of 1.16. While his performance against KT was less impressive (1-1 record, 5.63 ERA in three games), he has recently achieved five consecutive quality starts—defined as six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs—putting him in strong form.

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

*This content was translated by AI.