Choi Won-jun → Kim Sun-bin → Park Jae-hyun → Lee Woo-sung → Park Chan-ho is out, KIA lead-off AVG 0.242, turn around, and Park Chan-ho again
Choi Won-jun → Kim Sun-bin → Park Jae-hyun → Lee Woo-sung → Park Chan-ho is out, KIA lead-off AVG 0.242, turn around, and Park Chan-ho again
Blog Article
Ahead of the match against the Samsung Lions in Gwangju on Thursday, Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho said, "Every player who goes first feels pressured." That's true. Leadoff is a critical reason why KIA's scoring ability at the beginning of this season does not feel as cool as last year's.스포츠토토
Kia's leadoff players are showing poor productivity this year. In his first at-bat against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gwangju on March 25, Park Chan-ho, the main leadoff, hit a right-handed hit and stole second base, but his right knee strongly hit the ground and left.
KIA leadoff players only had eight hits in 33 at-bats for a 0.242 batting average in eight games from the game against Kiwoom in Gwangju on March 26, the first game in which Park Chan-ho was absent, to the game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on April 4. They had no RBI and only three runs scored. They also failed to generate synergies both before and after the leadoff, but the productivity of the leadoff itself is also not good.
In fact, Park Chan-ho had two hits in nine at-bats for a batting average of 0.222. With Kim Do-young already out due to a hamstring injury, even Park Chan-ho left the club, and Kim Seon-bin failed to operate normally this week, which led to his removal from the first team. As a result, Kia's lineup changes drastically every day at the beginning of the season.
Manager Lee Bum-ho's agony is read. Choi Won-joon couldn't afford to go through a leadoff match. Kim seemed to become the right candidate due to his unique expertise, but was sidelined due to injury. In the end, rookies Park Jae-hyun and Lee Woo-sung were also used as leadoff matches. Park Jae-hyun finished with one inning and Lee Woo-sung had two hits, but he is far from typical leadoff style.
Coach Lee Bum-ho said, "I will not use Kim Gyu-seong, who has good batting sense, as a leadoff." He expressed concern over confusion among players if the team suddenly takes charge of leadoff, which is unfamiliar to him due to burden on defense. In the end, Kia had to significantly reduce the absence of Park Chan-ho.
Fortunately, Park has been engaged in technical training normally in Gwangju this week. As Lee Bum-ho announced, he was registered in the first team ahead of the match against LG Electronics at Jamsil on Saturday. The game was canceled due to rain. Park will have his return match against LG at Jamsil Stadium on Saturday. It was not a serious injury in the first place. He is expected to play leadoff right away.
When it comes to defense, Kim has managed to fill in well. However, he only confirmed that he does not have a right card to replace Park in overall balance and weight. Park is a proven leadoff, hitting .30% of his at-bats for the second consecutive year. He also had good on-base percentages of 0.363 and 0.364 over the past two years.
Park Chan-ho is not normally the type to get sick. He needs to stay healthy throughout the entire season. If Park continues to play his role as the first shortstop, Kia will likely stabilize the flow of its high-ranking batters and its defense in the center line.
Paradoxically, Park's absence from injury led to Park's display of value. Park Chan-ho was proved once again to be one of the biggest fish in the 2025-2026 FA market. KIA will produce up to seven internal free agents this winter, but it should definitely catch Park Chan-ho.