Flower director's first choice for the second half. Socrates appeared as a top hitter in 802 days - Choi Won-jun No. 2
Jul 09, 2024
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KIA formed the starting lineup with Socrates (left fielder), Choi Won-joon (center fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Na Sung-bum (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Byun Woo-hyuk (first baseman), Kim Tae-gun (captor), and Park Chan-ho (striker) in the first and second place match against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium on the 9th.
Socrates' use of a top hitter is the biggest change at the start of the second half. Socrates played as the first hitter in 802 days since the match against Suwon KT Wiz on April 28, 2022.
KIA had a hard time forming a table setter in the first half. Several players came forward, Park Chan-ho was the first hitter recently, and Socrates came out as the second hitter.
KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said "I had a lot of worries about the first batter. (Kim) It's good to get on base after having Do-young once, but I thought my scoring ability would decrease"I thought I'd put Socrates first. The central batting line (Kim Do-young, Choi Hyung-woo, and Na Sung-beom) seems to be caught to some extent. Kim Sun-bin fits well, so I think it would be good to put it on No. 2. Today, Socrates and (Choi) Won-jun are attached. Won-jun has been in good shape recently and played well against LG. He explained why he composed No. 1 and No. 2 as Socrates-Choi Won-jun.
We could have put Socrates at No. 2 and put Choi Won-jun at No. 1, but putting Socrates at No. 1…"Since Socrates played well at No. 2, I thought it would be better to have another at-bat, so I talked to the batting coach to put him at No. 1."I decided that it would be better to put Socrates at No. 1 and Choi Won-jun at No. 2 than to put Choi Won-jun at No. 1 and Socrates at No. 2, so I planned it like this today."
He said that number 1 and 2 could change in the future. Manager Lee said, `It's best to put one as the first hitter, but since pitchers' left and right hands change, I'm going to check them according to their performance in each game and make a high probability choice.' `I'm going to set up No. 1 and No. 2 with players who were good at the other team at that time. I will set the table with players who were good for the other team and make it possible to score points from the center" he said.
LG's starting pitcher is Casey Kelly. He recorded 4 wins, 7 losses and an ERA of 4.47 in 17 games in the first half. In the match against KIA, he took the mound once in an away game in Gwangju on June 19 and recorded seven hits, five walks, two strikeouts, and two runs in five innings. There were many crises, but LG, which was trailing 0-2, scored a large number of six points in the top of the seventh inning with Park Dong-won's two-run shot and Hong Chang-ki's three-run shot, eventually leading to a 7-5 come-from-behind victory. At that time, KIA's starting pitcher was James Nail. At that time, Nail had a good quality start with five hits (one home run), one walk, six strikeouts, and two runs in six ⅓ innings.
indyk@sportschosun.com
