KT was in danger of sweeping the first three consecutive games of the season. Adjusting the starting rotation, even the local ace Koh Young-pyo card the day before stood ahead, but the result was ‘defeat’. KT, who had a big gap in the selection due to the departure of So-Jun Sohn and Sang-Baek Eom from injuries, escapes from losing streak with ‘Bullpen Day’, which mobilizes all bullpen pitchers. Cho Yi-hyeon (28) is in charge of the bullpen spearhead. Here, Kang Baek-ho, the leading hitter, made changes to the batting line and defense, starting as a right fielder after 694 days.
KT coach Lee Kang-cheol met ahead of the game on the last day of the 2023 KBO League away match against NC held at Changwon NC Park on the 13th and explained about registration and cancellation of first-team entries, and changes in other lines and defensive positions.
KT recently excluded Jo Yong-ho, who has not been feeling good at hitting, from the entry and called up rookie Jung Joon-young. In addition, Kang Baek-ho, the leading hitter, was placed in right field. Kang Baek-ho’s right field start has been 694 days since the match against Suwon Doosan on May 19, 2021.
Director Lee said, “I waited for (Cho) Yong-ho to feel the hit because he was good at defense, but it doesn’t seem like it. He caught it too much and thought it might last longer, so I decided that it would be better to go down for a while and pick up the pace.” He has to gain experience, so he came up to the first team,” he explained.
KT’s starting right fielder, Cho Yong-ho, is suffering from a sluggish batting. Cho Yong-ho played in 131 games last year and played an active role with a batting average of 0.308, 3 homers and 44 RBIs, but he is batting 0.192 in 7 games this year. Kang Baek-ho will play as right fielder in place of Cho Yong-ho. 안전놀이터
On this day, KT’s Kim Min-hyuk (center fielder) – Kang Baek-ho (right fielder) – Alford (left fielder) – Park Byeong-ho (1st baseman) – Moon Sang-cheol (designated hitter) – Kim Jun-tae (catcher) – Lee Sang-ho (2nd baseman) – Ryu Hyun-in (3rd baseman) – Kim Sang-soo (Shortstop) formed the lineup. Lee Sang-ho and Ryu Hyun-in were included in the starting lineup.
Coach Lee said, “(Kang) Baekho also has to go out and watch the outfield, so at times like this, he has to run the game. (Lee) Sang-ho and (Ryu) Hyeon-in should also gain experience. And Park Kyung-soo and Hwang Jae-gyun were given a break to manage their physical strength for tomorrow’s competition. Moon Sang-cheol put more emphasis on hitting than defense.”
The spearhead of ‘Bullpen Day’ is Jo Yi-hyun. On October 17, 2021, when he played for SSG, Cho Yi-hyun took the mound as a starter 543 days after starting the match against Sajik Lotte. At the time, he gave up 2 runs in 4 innings. Coach Lee said that even if Cho Yi-hyeon blocked three innings, he had done his job.
He said, “I have to play tomorrow too, so I hope (Joi-hyun) pulls in about 3 innings. I plan to use all the bullpens today. If I can win, I will use it all,” he predicted an all-out bullpen battle.