Samsung’s Choi Won-tae starts Game 3
Samsung Lions right-hander Choi Won-tae (30) will start Game 3 of the best-of-five playoff series against the KIA Tigers on the 29th at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. According to Sports Donga, Choi went 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA in four postseason outings last year, his first season with Samsung after signing as a free agent, breaking a poor run of autumn baseball from 2018 to 2024 (9.89 ERA). This year, however, he struggled against KIA, going 1-1 with an 8.10 ERA in three games. He was originally expected to start Game 4, but moved up after Won Tae-in pitched in relief in Game 2. KIA will counter with Asia-quota pitcher Keisho Shirakawa, who threw five innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts in Game 3 of the semi-playoff. Since 2010, the Game 3 winner in a series tied 1-1 has reached the Korean Series seven out of nine times (77.8%).
Source: Sports Donga
KIA’s Castro hitting .450 this fall
KIA Tigers import hitter Harold Castro (33) is on a tear in his first KBO postseason. According to Sports Donga, he has started all five of the team’s games from the semi-playoff through the playoff and has a hit in each of them, batting .450 this postseason. In the regular season he collected 131 hits in 99 games, with a .327 average, 21 home runs and a .564 slugging percentage. His mix of contact and power is drawing comparisons with Roger Bernadina (2017 title) and Socrates Brito (2024 title), two foreign hitters who helped KIA win championships. Castro forms the No. 3 to No. 5 heart of the order with Kim Do-yeong and Na Sung-bum. Base running is seen as his weak spot: in Game 2 of the playoff on the 27th, he hit a ball off the left-field wall in the top of the sixth but was tagged out at second.
Source: Sports Donga
Lotte brings back Huh Moon-hoe
The Lotte Giants finalized the first-team coaching staff for new manager Lee Dong-wook on the 28th. According to News1, former Lotte manager Huh Moon-hoe, who was dismissed in May 2021, returns after five years as head coach and hitting adviser, while former Hanwha Eagles pitching coach Park Seung-min takes over as manager of the Futures (minor league) team. Lotte ranked fourth in team batting average this year (.272) but scored only 4.7 runs per game (ninth), making run production a key task. Cho Won-woo, who led Lotte to the postseason as manager in 2017, will handle first-team defense, Lee Byung-kyu and Lee Seong-gon will coach hitting, and Lim Kyung-wan and Lee Jae-yul will coach pitching. The club plans to add one more defensive coach. Lee said he built a staff “suited to strengthening defense and using data” and vowed to push for the top of the table.
Source: News1
Son Ah-seop returns to NC
Veteran outfielder Son Ah-seop (38) has returned to his former club, the NC Dinos, after 15 months, on a salary of 50 million won. According to News1, NC announced the deal on the 28th, and the contract was signed on the afternoon of the 27th at Changwon NC Park. Son signed a four-year, 6.4 billion won free-agent deal with NC after the 2021 season, was traded to the Hanwha Eagles last July, moved to the Doosan Bears in April this year, and was told after the season that he would not be re-signed. With 2,655 career hits, he ranks third on the KBO’s all-time list behind Choi Hyoung-woo (2,734) and Kim Hyun-soo (2,691). NC general manager Lim Seon-nam said Son would “add variety as a left-handed option in a lineup built around right-handed hitters.” Son said he was “happy to play for NC again” and promised a strong showing next season. He will join the team in January.
Source: News1
APBC national team staff set
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) finalized the national team coaching staff for the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) on the 28th and held its first staff meeting. According to Ilgan Sports, KBS N SPORTS commentator Cho Sung-hwan will assist manager Choi Won-ho as head coach and defensive coach. Choi Ki-moon, head and battery coach of the Ulsan Whales, will be battery coach, and Hanwha coach Kim Jae-geol will handle strategy and third base. Former Hanwha coach Park Jung-jin (pitching), Lotte coach Jung Kyung-bae (hitting), KBO development committee member Kwon Oh-jun (bullpen) and KBO committee member Lee Dae-hyung (quality control and first base) also joined, four of them coaching the national team for the first time. The APBC, now in its third edition, features players aged 24 or under or within their first three pro seasons from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia. The KBO plans to trim its 33-man preliminary roster to 28, taking the Korean Series teams into account.
Source: Ilgan Sports