"We were planning to place Lee Ho-yeon at No. 1, but he showed signs of illness..." The reason Coach Flower placed DH Park Sang-jun as a table setter

*This content was translated by AI.

"(Park) Sang-jun really sees the ball well. The goal was to get on base."

With Lee Ho-yeon suddenly falling ill and forcing a change in the starting lineup, KIA Tigers deployed first baseman Park Sang-jun—who possesses both "getting on base" ability and strong plate vision—as a designated hitter and moved him up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order as a strategic move.

Ahead of their away game against Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 8th, KIA announced its starting lineup: Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Park Sang-jun (designated hitter), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (first baseman), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Ha Joo-seok (shortstop), Kim Tae-goon (catcher), and Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder). The starting pitcher was foreign right-hander Shirakawa.

The biggest talking point of the lineup that day was undoubtedly "No. 2 Park Sang-jun." Before the game, Manager Lee Beom-ho met with reporters and openly shared the background behind the batting order adjustment.

Manager Lee said, "Originally, we planned to use (Lee) Ho-yeon as the No. 1 batter today. But he mentioned he was feeling a bit under the weather." He added, "So while I wanted to put the very well-conditioned (Park) Jae-hyun at No. 2, we decided to move Jae-hyun up to No. 1 and place Sang-jun, who has a high on-base percentage, at No. 2."

The manager continued, "We also considered using (Park) Jung-woo for getting on base, but given that Daegu's stadium is small, we judged it better to start with Sang-jun at No. 2 as the designated hitter and make adjustments later in the game based on the situation." He explained, "We assigned him the purpose of getting on base frequently by placing him up front because he sees the ball well and has a high on-base percentage."

He also addressed why starting second baseman Kim Sun-bin moved to the No. 6 spot. Manager Lee stated, "Although Sun-bin struggled against Samsung's starter Choi Won-tae today, he found it somewhat physically demanding to bat at No. 2 while playing defense. We believed it was better for the team's lineup structure if (Na) Sung-beom, who is waiting behind him, could handle the next opportunity."

Regarding Lee Ho-yeon's condition after being removed from the starting lineup due to illness, the manager added, "He had a slight fever, but he said he felt fine after training. He can certainly be used as a pinch hitter later in the game if needed."

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*This content was translated by AI.