“Shock No. 1” KIA Reveals Starting Lineup for Decisive Battle Against LG: “Not National Team’s Park Jae-hyun, but the No. 2 Spot in the Leadoff?…” Manager Explains [Gwangju On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The KIA Tigers have revealed their starting lineup for a fateful showdown against the LG Twins.

KIA will face LG in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season home game at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field at 6:30 p.m. on the 12th. This match also serves as KIA’s final regular-season game of the year.

KIA is currently ranked third in the league with a record of 78 wins, 63 losses, and 2 draws. Meanwhile, fourth-place LG has a record of 78 wins, 74 losses, and 1 draw. The gap between the two teams is 0.5 games. The team that wins this game will secure third place and earn a direct ticket to the Junior Playoffs. However, since LG trails by 0.5 games, KIA will clinch third place even if they draw.

On this day, KIA arranged their starting batting order as follows: Park Jeong-u (right fielder), Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (first baseman), Na Seung-beom (designated hitter), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Ha Ju-seok (shortstop), Kim Tae-goon (catcher), and Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder). Notably, Park Jeong-u is making a shocking appearance as the leadoff hitter.

KIA will have “the Tigers’ eternal living legend” Yang Hyeon-jong take the mound as the starting pitcher. Yang has appeared in 25 games this season, recording a 12-6 record with an ERA of 4.29. Over a total of 119⅔ innings, he has allowed 119 hits (including 14 home runs), issued 57 walks, struck out 82 batters, and conceded 65 runs (57 earned). His WHIP is 1.47, and the batting average against him is 0.255. He has achieved two quality starts (pitching at least six innings while allowing three or fewer earned runs).

Against LG this year, Yang appeared in three games, posting a 1-2 record with an ERA of 4.61. Over a total of 13⅔ innings, he allowed 11 hits (including 1 home run), issued 14 walks, struck out 6 batters, and conceded 8 runs (7 earned), with a batting average against him of 0.220.

Prior to the game, KIA Manager Lee Beom-ho explained the reasoning behind placing Park Jeong-u in the leadoff spot: “In the previous game, he hit well against [Lim] Chan-gyu. On the other hand, [Park] Jae-hyun has never managed to hit a ball from Lim Chan-gyu. So, I placed Jeong-u at No. 1 and Jae-hyun at No. 2.” Park Jeong-u holds a strong record against Lim Chan-gyu this year, with two hits in three at-bats (a .667 batting average).

Regarding Yang Hyeon-jong’s pitching usage, the manager added, “If he pitches well, we will let him continue. If he struggles early on, all our pitchers are waiting in the bullpen, so we can make a quick move in the early innings.”

The manager continued, “I think of it as him pitching one inning at a time, starting from the first. [Yang] Hyeon-jong also said he would do his best to pitch. First, we will see how things go in the early innings and then observe how the game unfolds. Still, I don’t think there will be any problem with him pitching through at least one full rotation of the opposing lineup without issue. The reason I cut his previous appearance short at around 80 pitches was just in case a situation arose where he would need to pitch again after only four days of rest. I believe it won’t be a major issue,” expressing his confidence.

Meanwhile, facing KIA, LG arranged their starting batting order as follows: Park Hae-min (center fielder), Song Chan-ui (left fielder), Austin (designated hitter), Moon Jeong-bin (first baseman), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Lee Jae-won (right fielder), Koo Bon-hyeok (shortstop), Park Dong-won (catcher), and Shin Min-jae (second baseman). LG’s starting pitcher is Lim Chan-gyu.

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

*This content was translated by AI.View Original