In the wake of Kia’s nuclear holocaust, 23-year-old defender gets a new lease on life…and a nine-game winning streak

KIA infielder Hong Jong-pyo (23)토스카지노 has been removed from the first team.

The KBO’s 10 clubs announced their first-team roster moves on Thursday through the KBO. It’s a Monday without baseball, but the Lotte-Dusan game will be held in Busan. The other eight teams have a day off. As the expanded roster took effect on the 1st of this month, most teams have made the necessary staffing changes.

As a result, the number of expungements was small, including the first team roster on the 4th. KIA removed infielder Hong Jong-pyo (23) and Samsung removed outfielder Kim Dong-yeop from the first team. KIA and Samsung are likely to call up replacements for their upcoming games against Doosan in Jamsil and Lotte in Ulsan on Friday.

As for Hong Jong-pyo, he is a big-time defensive player. He has seven hits and no walks in 34 games this season. He hasn’t been utilized much because the Kia bats are doing so well right now, but they still need an all-weather backup in the infield, and Choi Jeong-yong and Oh Sun-woo can fill in for him. 

It will be interesting to see who replaces Hong Jong-pyo. KIA will look to extend their winning streak to nine games on Friday against Doosan in Jamsil. They will need a replacement for Mario Sanchez this week. They could move up a pitcher. Or a call-up to the first team for someone who can fill that role, like Hong Jong-pyo. Kim Kyu-sung, who has been in the first team all season, is not in the first team right now.

In 58 games this season, Kim is batting .264 with 37 hits in 140 at-bats, five home runs, 18 RBIs, 18 runs scored, and a .738 OPS. After hitting 20 home runs in the 2020 season, he is in a long slump.

Kim Dong-yeop/My Daily