The Hanwha Eagles and Kiwoom Heroes will play the first game between the teams of the "2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League" season at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 5.

Manager Choi Won-ho of the Hanwha Eagles will start the starting lineup of Moon Hyun-bin (2B), Peraza (RF), Chae Eun-seong (DH), Noh Si-hwan (3B), Ahn Chi-hong (1B), Ha Ju-seok (SS), Lee Jae-won (C), Choi In-ho (LF), and Lee Jin-young (CF). Ryu Hyun-jin will start as the starting pitcher.

Coach Choi sent Lee Won-seok to the second division on the day and registered Lee Jin-young to the first division. Lee will immediately start as a center fielder. "Im Jong-chan has shown a lot of slowness lately. He has struck out eight times in the last three games. I have no full-time experience, physical exhaustion, and a lot of thoughts," Choi Won-ho said. "That's why I recruited a player to play center fielder for Futures. I called him up because he said he liked him the most."

Choi Won-ho replaced Park Sang-won, the closing pitcher of the ninth inning, with an out count of one against Lotte on the previous day. "Park Sang-won pitched in five games until yesterday, but there was a big gap between strike and ball. Strike was driven to the center, and the ball was far off. This is what's been going on. I was in a bad condition. I replaced the ball because I thought it would be dangerous to rush against Jeon Joon-woo and Noh Jin-hyuk," Choi said.

It is not just a change of position. Manager Choi Won-ho said, "When I replaced a pitcher in the ninth inning yesterday, I decided to leave the finishing pitcher to Joo Hyun-sang from today. Joo is currently pitching in the most stable condition in the bullpen. Park will improve his condition by throwing up to two innings under comfortable circumstances. As a closing pitcher, he cannot take the mound under comfortable circumstances."

"I was in poor condition, but the result was even worse because I was always in tight situations. This situation has been getting longer (if Park continues to be appointed as the closing pitcher), and this could have caused instability in the team as well," Choi added. Park Sang-won has one save in five games this season, but his ERA is high at 6.75. He has never blocked innings in a clean way.

"He is the pitcher with the best command among our bullpen pitchers. In fact, I thought about Joo and Park Sang-won during the camp, too. Park Sang-won has better ball power and made 16 saves last year. However, even if his ball power declines a little, he believes he needs more stable pitching in situations where his pitching is tight," he said.

Ryu will play with Lee Jae-won on the same day. "The catcher changes when the series changes. Seeing Lee Jae-won take the lead today, if he is okay, he may spend another day tomorrow," manager Choi Won-ho said. "The opposing hitters are not able to beat Choi's lead, but it is difficult to continue putting Choi in four to five games each. I am changing the catcher when the opposing team changes, and I am seeing how the catcher's lead is like for the batters in that team."

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