KIA's Ha Ju-seok excluded from starting lineup, why?... Manager Lee Beom-ho's strategy: '4th vs. 5th place showdown' [Jamsil on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers announced their starting lineup for the matchup against Doosan Bears.

KIA will face Doosan at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 23rd at 6:30 p.m. in a regular-season away game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

As of now, having played 130 games this season, KIA holds a record of 71 wins, 57 losses, and 2 ties, placing them alone in 4th place in the league. They trail the 3rd-place LG Twins by three games and lead the 5th-place Doosan (66 wins, 62 losses, 5 ties) by five games. If KIA defeats Doosan in this head-to-head matchup, they will effectively secure their 4th-place position while creating an opportunity to challenge for 3rd place again.

KIA's starting lineup consists of Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Min-gyu (left fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Castro (first baseman), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Han Jun-soo (designated hitter), Park Min (shortstop), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Byun Woo-hyuk (third baseman). The starting pitcher is Adam Oller.

Oller has appeared in 26 games this season, posting a record of 11 wins and 9 losses with an ERA of 2.80, serving as KIA's ace. Over 154⅓ innings, he allowed 107 hits (including 12 home runs), issued 51 walks, recorded 164 strikeouts, and gave up 52 runs (48 earned). His WHIP stands at 1.02, and his batting average against is 0.194. He has achieved a quality start (six innings pitched with three or fewer earned runs) 18 times.

Against Doosan this season, Oller started in three games, recording one win and one loss with an ERA of 3.26. In total, he pitched 19⅓ innings, allowing 14 hits (including one home run), issuing three walks, hitting one batter, striking out 17 batters, and giving up eight runs (seven earned). His batting average against was 0.206.

Ahead of today's game, KIA manager Lee Beom-ho joked about excluding Ha Ju-seok from the starting lineup, saying, "He hit too well against Jacklog." He then explained, "His record against them is one hit in 16 at-bats. So we plan to use him later after Jacklog is removed from the lineup."

Meanwhile, Doosan set their starting lineup against KIA as follows: Jeong So-bin (center fielder), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Severino (first baseman), Son Ah-seop (designated hitter), Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Oh Myung-jin (second baseman), and Jo Su-haeng (right fielder). The starting pitcher is Jacklog.

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*This content was translated by AI.