"It's Daniel no matter who comes up," "I hope Choi Won-tae can replicate his performance from last fall" — First-ever KS Game 1 starters clash: KT's Davis Daniel vs. Samsung's Choi Won-tae [KS Media Day On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The KT Wiz, aiming for their first unified championship in five years, and the Samsung Lions, challenging to reclaim the throne after 12 years, will face off in the Korea Series (KS, best-of-seven). The fate of the opening game rests on the shoulders of Davis Daniel (29, KT) and Choi Won-tae (29, Samsung).

KT Manager Lee Kang-cheol (60) and Samsung Manager Park Jin-man (50) revealed their Game 1 starting pitchers at the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Korea Series Media Day held at 2 p.m. on the 2nd in the Grand Ballroom of the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

KT's Jang Sung-woo (36) and So Hyoung-jun (25), along with Samsung's Koo Ja-yuk (33) and Won Tae-in (26), attended the event to express their determination for the Korea Series. As scheduled, KT's Daniel and Samsung's Choi Won-tae were confirmed as the Game 1 starters. KT Manager Lee Kang-cheol said, "I considered whether to start Daniel in our final game against Samsung, but I decided we should keep him completely hidden until now. It was Daniel no matter who else might have come up."

He added, "The reason we went with Daniel is that even when we won the Korea Series in 2021, we didn't have a definitive ace starter. We played through the season with tiebreaker games and players like William Cuevas stepping up as an ace-level starter, so I feel it was completed over the course of the season. Daniel also seems to have developed well into an ace starter, so that's how we made the decision."

KT reached 90 wins in the regular season with a record of 90 wins, 5 draws, and 49 losses (winning percentage .647), marking their first time reaching the 90th-win milestone since their founding. They secured the regular season championship for the first time in five years since 2021. Although they failed to advance to the postseason with a sixth-place finish last year, this year they clinched a direct ticket to the Korea Series along with a franchise record of winning their final 10 games consecutively.

To bridge the approximately three-week gap from live competition, KT played three practice games. After defeating the Military Sports Agency (Sangmu) 7-0 on the 27th of last month, they beat the U-23 National Baseball Team 8-2 and 11-2 on the 28th and 30th, respectively. In particular, Daniel pitched a strong game against Sangmu, going scoreless for five innings with no hits allowed, one walk, and 10 strikeouts, raising expectations.

Daniel, who joined KT in August last month, recorded a regular season record of 5 wins and 2 losses in 10 games with an ERA of 2.13. He struck out 69 batters over 55 innings, establishing himself as the new foreign ace, and has been entrusted with the important role of starting pitcher for Game 1 of the Korea Series on his first postseason stage.

Facing them, Samsung finished second in the regular season with a record of 83 wins, 3 draws, and 58 losses (winning percentage .589). They defeated the KIA Tigers in the Playoffs (PO) after a fierce battle that went to Game 5, winning 3 games to 2. This marks their return to the Korea Series stage for the first time in two years since 2024. It is a championship challenge for the first time in 12 years since 2014.

Samsung starter Choi Won-tae recorded a regular season record of 7 wins and 5 losses in 24 games with an ERA of 4.68. This year against KT, he struggled with a record of 1 loss in 2 games and an ERA of 6.94. He was also removed early in Game 3 of the PO against KIA on the 29th of last month after allowing two runs in 1⅔ innings, but he will once again take responsibility for the crucial opening game.

Samsung Manager Park Jin-man emphasized, "Our Game 1 starter is Choi Won-tae. Player Won Tae-in has been moved to the bullpen. Although Choi Won-tae had a somewhat rough performance in the Playoffs, he has a lot of experience and has pitched consistently as a starter. I hope he can show the form he displayed last fall."

The regular season head-to-head record between the two teams favored Samsung with 9 wins and 7 losses. However, KT won all of their last four matchups, changing the momentum heading into the Korea Series.

KT and Samsung faced each other in a race for first place in the 2021 regular season, but this is the first time they have met in the postseason. Game 1 of the Korea Series between the two teams will be held at Suwon KT Wiz Park at 6:30 p.m. on the 3rd.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original