Son Ah-seop, unexpectedly named starter for the season finale against Lotte! Kim Won-hyung makes suggestive remark: "Because it's the team he played for the longest..."

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Doosan Bears "veteran" outfielder Son Ah-seop (38) will start in the regular season finale. The sudden decision to name him a starter reflects Manager Kim Won-hyung's special consideration, aiming both to check his live offensive and defensive condition ahead of the postseason Wild Card series and to account for his final matchup against Lotte Giants, his "former team" where he spent the longest time.

Doosan will play its regular season finale against the Lotte Giants on the 12th at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Regardless of the outcome of this game, Doosan has already secured fifth place in the regular season and placed starting outfielder Son Ah-seop in the starting lineup as the number two hitter and right fielder.

With the postseason autumn baseball on the horizon, Son Ah-seop's start naturally draws attention. This is because Son Ah-seop, who had recently spent a long time on the bench, will make his regular season final appearance as a starter against Lotte, his former team and the one he played for the longest. Excluding this game, his last start was as the number six designated hitter in the match against the KIA Tigers at Jamsil on September 23.

Manager Kim Won-hyung, who met with reporters before the game, frankly revealed two reasons behind Son Ah-seop's starting role: a condition check and respect for his former team. In response to questions about Son Ah-seop's start, Manager Kim Won-hyung explained, "It is also the final game at Jamsil, and we need to check his physical condition ahead of the Wild Card series. We wanted to see how he performs defensively today, and since we must consider the Wild Card roster after the game ends, we sent him out as a starter to evaluate him in the batter's box."

He also did not hide the consideration for his special connection with his former team. Manager Kim added, "It is less about preparing for the Wild Card and more about checking his condition, but in any case, Lotte (2007 season~2021 season) is the team Ah-seop played for the most. Coincidentally, we are playing our final game against Lotte today." He added, "He has not been able to start recently and has been on the bench, so we decided to put him in the game considering these two aspects."

On this day, Doosan set its starting lineup in the following order: Park Chan-ho (shortstop) - Son Ah-seop (right fielder) - Severino (first baseman) - Yang Eui-ji (catcher) - Kim Min-seok (left fielder) - An Jae-seok (third baseman) - Yang Seok-hwan (designated hitter) - Kang Seung-ho (second baseman) - Jeong Soobin (center fielder). The starting pitcher is Lee Yong-chan. According to Manager Kim Won-hyung, the pitching staff will be managed as a bullpen day, primarily utilizing relief pitchers. Foreign pitcher Jack Logue is also expected to wait in the bullpen. It is highly likely that Jack Logue will pitch out of the bullpen in the Wild Card series.

Above all, attention is focused on what kind of performance Son Ah-seop will deliver offensively and defensively in his regular season finale start against his former team Lotte, and whether he will signal a green light for inclusion in the postseason roster.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original