Two FA departures in the end, KIA upends all predictions... Why are KIA fans giving a thunderous round of applause despite their playoff elimination? [PO5 On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The 2026 KIA Tigers baseball season has come to a close. Despite the sense of regret, KIA fans sent up a warm round of applause. This is because the team defied expectations that even reaching the upper echelon would be difficult this season and proudly secured third place.

On the afternoon of the 1st, KIA lost 1-6 to the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League Playoffs at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. With this defeat, KIA fell behind 2 wins and 3 losses in the series, ultimately failing to advance to the Korea Series in a narrow miss.

KIA’s starting pitcher Adam Ottavino was a sore point, as he collapsed with six hits allowed and four runs allowed over two innings. Furthermore, the lineup failed to effectively attack Samsung starter Ariel Hurdado, and the team bowed its head without mounting a meaningful counterattack.

In fact, ahead of this season, two key players who had earned free agent (FA) status left the team. Choi Hyung-woo, a veteran who anchored the center of the lineup, moved to the Samsung Lions, while Park Chan-ho, who served as the core infielder and captain, headed to the Doosan Bears.

For this reason, predictions emerged before the season opener that KIA’s outlook for the year would not be easy. However, once the lid was lifted, KIA showed a completely different face. After consistently maintaining a winning percentage above .500 throughout the first half, the team overtook the LG Twins in a fierce race for position late in the season to claim third place. Following a 3-0 series sweep of the LG Twins in the Junior Playoffs, KIA engaged in a grueling battle with Samsung in the Playoffs that went all the way to Game 5. Facing this best-effort effort by the KIA players, KIA fans are sending warm applause despite the playoff elimination.

KIA, which finished eighth in the league last season (2025) with a record of 65 wins, 75 losses, and 4 ties (winning percentage .464), ranked third this season (2026) with a record of 79 wins, 63 losses, and 2 ties (winning percentage .556). A team that was at '-10 wins' relative to the .500 winning percentage mark succeeded in reaching '+16 wins.'

In particular, KIA’s batters displayed terrifying power, finishing second in the league with 174 home runs. The team slugging percentage (.435) ranked first, and the team OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) also hit .782, tying for first place with KT. Superstar Kim Do-young hit 45 home runs to claim the home run championship, despite being selected for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games baseball national team.

In the batting department, Castro (.327), Kim Do-young (.308), and Na Sung-bum (.303) marked batting averages above .300. Park Jae-hyun (.293), Park Jung-woo (.292), Kim Sun-bin (.285), and Han Jun-su (.281) followed behind them. In particular, second-year player Park Jae-hyun demonstrated rapidly improving skills and earned the honor of being selected for the national team.

Of course, there were crises as well. During the season, Castro suffered a hamstring injury and was sidelined. In his place, replacement foreign player Adelin Rodriguez was quickly signed, effectively filling the void. Additionally, when Lee Yi-ri, who was part of the starting rotation, struggled, he was sent to Japan for short-term training. This ultimately proved to be a masterstroke. Lee Yi-ri’s ERA in the first half had reached 9.42. His ERA in the second half was 3.21.

After Game 5 of the Playoffs, KIA Manager Lee Beom-ho opened by saying, "I believe our players gave their best effort. Thank you for enduring the long postseason. We will prepare well to create a season where we can definitely challenge again next year."

Continuing on this year’s growth trajectory, he firmly stated, "There are positions where young players have grown significantly. The young players showed good form. It seems there were many changes in the team regarding growth this season. Now, to achieve better results, we will practice sufficiently and find our shortcomings."

Manager Lee added, "Baseball is like that. Things don’t always go as planned. If we improve only the difficult parts and find what works well, I believe any team can achieve good results. We finished third this season, but thinking we will naturally make it to the Korea Series next year would be a mistake. We will prepare well in various aspects to build a team that can definitely rank in the top three or higher."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original