KIA catcher Shin Beom-soo (25) wears a mask for his first start of the season.
Shin Bum-soo was named to the starting lineup as the No. 8 catcher against Hanwha in Daejeon on Thursday. This is his first start of the season after appearing as a substitute in all four previous games. It’s been 228 days since his last start on Oct. 8 against the Gwangju KIA.안전놀이터
Han Seung-taek has started 26 games for KIA this year, the most of any catcher. Joo Hyo-sang wore the starting mask for 11 games, but was removed from the first team on Nov. 14 due to poor hitting. Shin Bum-soo, who switched places with Joo, was given a chance to start.
Shin Bum-soo took Han Seung-taek’s place in center field in the second inning against Hanwha the previous day (Nov. 23) and played until the end of the game. In the seventh inning, he took a hard fastball from Hanwha’s top rookie Kim Seo-hyun and smashed an RBI double to right-center field. It had been three years, eight months and 1,340 days since his last at-bat against Suwon KT on Sept. 23, 2019.
Kia manager Kim Jong-kook also commented on the early substitution of Han Seung-taek the day before against Hanwha, saying, “He didn’t match up with pitcher Sean Anderson in the early innings. I thought Shin Beom-soo should try to work with Anderson and improve his game sense from the first team.”
Kim continued, “I have high expectations for Shin’s batting. It was good to see that he was confident in his own swing no matter what the outcome was. I’m looking forward to it,” Kim said, noting Shin’s bat.
KIA’s starting lineup was Ryu Ji-hyuk (third base), Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Socrates Brito (center field), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Kim Sun-bin (second base), Ko Jong-wook (left field), Byun Woo-hyuk (first base), Shin Beom-soo (catcher), and Lee Woo-sung (right field). The starting pitcher is Yoon Young-cheol.