KIA Tigers Choi Won-joon will return to his original defensive position, center fielder, rather than the first baseman he temporarily took over. KIA coach Kim Jong-guk made a decision to relieve Choi Won-joon’s defensive burden.스포츠토토
KIA will play Suwon KT WIZ on August 24th. KIA, who lost 4-8 in the face-to-face match on the 22nd, took a day off from the game on the 23rd due to rain cancellation.
On this day, KIA Choi Won-joon (center fielder) – Park Chan-ho (shortstop) – Na Seong-beom (right fielder) – Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter) – Kim Sun-bin (2nd baseman) – Socrates (left fielder) – Kim Tae-gun (catcher) – Byeon Woo-hyeok (1st baseman) – Kim Do-young ( 3 baseman) to face KT starting pitcher Koh Young-pyo, with the starting batting order leading up to them. The KIA starting pitcher on this day is Thomas Panoni.
It is unusual that Choi Won-joon is selected as a center fielder and Byeon Woo-hyeok as a first baseman. After Choi Won-jun was discharged from the Sangmu Baseball Team this season, he mainly played first baseman defense. He starts the game in the outfield, his main position after a long time. He played Won-jun Choi in 46 games this season and had a batting average of 0.254 / 46 hits / 1 home run / 18 RBIs / 8 stolen bases. Byun Woo-hyuk was also named in the starting lineup for the first time after returning to the first team in mid-August.
Manager Kim Jong-guk met with reporters before the game on the 24th and said, “(Choi) Won-joon must have felt very sorry because if a defensive mistake was made at first base, it would lead to a run. At the same time, he felt more depressed mentally, so today he went to his main position, outfield defense.”
On this day, the KT starting pitcher that the KIA lineup has to deal with is Koh Young-pyo, a submarine pitcher representing the league. Ko Young-pyo pitched in 21 games (132.2 innings) this season and recorded an average debt of 2.51 with 87 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.06. Koh Young-pyo skipped the rotation once to manage his physical strength, and then rose to the starting mound that day.
Coach Kim ordered a bold swing with the number of goals for a specific pitch, even for the first and second pitches, with Ko Young-pyo’s strategy.
Manager Kim said, “In the case of player Koh Young-pyo, whether it is a fast ball or a breaking ball, if the count is crowded, the probability drops drastically. I wonder if he should go in with a good count before the 2nd strike. Even with the first pitch and the second pitch, a bold swing direction is needed. Ko Young-pyo’s pitching condition today will be a variable for some guidance,” he emphasized.
The temporary starting pitcher for the game against the NC Dinos in Gwangju on the 29th, which will fill the place where Lee Eui-ri is missing, is still undecided. Director Kim plans to continue to think about several candidates.
Manager Kim said, “Since (Hwang) Dong-ha doesn’t have a registration date, (Kim) Yu-shin, as well as (Kim) Kon-guk and (Kim) Jae-yeol, who have experience as a starting pitcher in the first team, should be included in the selection. He seems to have to keep thinking about it. The two pitchers who will be registered during the expansion entry in September should be considered as bullpen resources.”