KT Wiz's Kang Baek-ho will start as a catcher for the first time this season.
Manager Lee Kang-cheol's KT Wiz announced the starting lineup for their game against the Lotte Giants at Busan's Sajik Stadium on the 30th.
A notable point is that Kang Baek-ho will wear the starting catcher mask for the first time this season. He began serious training as a catcher ahead of this season and has been honing his skills in exhibition games. It was also necessary to manage the stamina of the starting catcher Jang Seong-woo.
There are also changes in the batting order. Kang Baek-ho dropped from 1st to 2nd place in the lineup, switching positions with Rojas. Additionally, Kim Sang-soo, who had remained in the lower batting order, was promoted to the central lineup.
In the previous game, KT left 9 runners on base. Although many opportunities were created in front of Kang Baek-ho, who was leading off, they ultimately could not capitalize. In the 4th inning with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, in the 7th inning with no outs and a runner on 1st, and in the 9th inning with 2 outs and a runner on 1st, Kang Baek-ho failed to come through, resulting in a 1-3 loss.
Manager Lee Kang-cheol noted, "Right now, (Kim) Sang-soo and (Bae) Jeong-dae in the lower batting order are getting on base well. They are effectively consolidating the connection to the upper batting order, but we are not solving our scoring problems," expressing disappointment about the struggles of Rojas and Kang Baek-ho, who are positioned in the top order.
The starting lineup consists of Rojas (right field), Kang Baek-ho (catcher), Heo Kyung-min (third base), Kim Min-hyuk (left field), Kim Sang-soo (shortstop), Moon Sang-cheol (designated hitter), Hwang Jae-gyun (first base), Oh Yun-seok (second base), and Bae Jeong-dae (center field). The starting pitcher is Koh Young Technology.
Koh Young Technology struggled against Lotte last year, making three appearances with two losses and an earned run average of 11.05 (14⅔ innings, 18 earned runs).
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