KIA coach Beom-ho Lee, “We won’t score many points… Foreign pitchers will be the winner.”

(Daegu = Yonhap News) Reporter Dae-ho Lee = Coach Beom-ho Lee of the professional baseball KIA Tigers predicted that the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League postseason playoffs (PO, 3 wins out of 5 games) will be a fight of 'one point'.

Ahead of the first PO game against the Samsung Lions to be held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th, Manager Lee predicted, "The condition of both teams' foreign pitchers is important. (KIA starter) James Nail will be in good condition after a week off, and (Samsung starter) Chris Fedek will be strong. There will not be many points and hitters will have difficulty targeting."

In the end, accumulating one point at a time is the shortcut to victory.

Director Lee said, “It will be a fight to see how we can escape one point at a time.”

Samsung's fast-moving table setters, consisting of Kim Ji-chan and Kim Seong-yoon, are the ones to be wary of in a one-point fight.

Manager Lee said, "That part is the most important. That's why I always tell the battery to pay attention to it. It's burdensome to have a runner in front of a (center hitter) who can hit far. I also have to pay attention to the ball mix when a fast runner goes out."

On this day, KIA's batting order was as follows: Park Jeong-woo (center fielder) - Park Jae-hyun (left fielder) - Kim Do-young (third baseman) - Harold Castro (first baseman) - Na Seong-beom (right fielder) - Kim Seon-bin (second baseman) - Han Jun-su (designated hitter) - Kim Tae-gun (catcher) - Ha Joo-seok (shortstop).

The starting lineup for the first game the day before was canceled due to rain.

Manager Lee said, "I thought about changing the batting order, but I thought it was right for the players who had been tense since yesterday to leave. If a new player leaves, they will be nervous. So, I am sending them out as is."

Regarding the situation where expectations from inside and outside the team are focused on Kim Do-young, a 23-year-old young player, he said, "I will not feel pressure. I have experienced the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and the Asian Games. Even now, instead of thinking of it as a big game, I just do my best at the plate." He added, "He is the best hitter in Korea, so I will always play with that level of pressure on him."