Kia Tigers rookie outfielder Park Jae-hyun has been included in the opening entry as expected. He will have a chance to make his debut in the game against the Gwangju NC Dinos in the opening game on Tuesday. Nobody knows how long Park Jae-hyun will be in the first team. It's up to him. If he plays the role of a big player and a pinch runner well, he or she should not be a backup in the first team.메이저놀이터

Coach Lee Bum-ho did not appoint Kim Ho-ryeong and Ko Jong-wook at the exhibition game. Lee Chang-jin skipped the exhibition game due to his hamstring injury. Kim Seok-hwan also moved to the second division with the opening of the Futures League. Thus, Park Jung-woo and Park Jae-hyun performed well at the exhibition game and entered the opening entry. Park Jae-hyun will succeed if he holds out until the fourth or fifth starting pitcher enters the team first and Lee Chang-jin returns second.

He has ample possibility. After graduating from Incheon High School, he joined the team in the third round of the 2025 Rookie Draft. He was the first outfielder to be named. He displayed fast feet first. Lee Bum-ho was one of the three rookies he mentioned after the Okinawa wrap-up camp (first rounder Kim Tae-hyung, third rounder Park Jae-hyun and fourth rounder Yang Soo-ho).

Coach Lee Bum-ho said at the time, "It was not enough to be used in this year's first division. However, the atmosphere began to change after going through the Kochi 2nd tier spring camp. He was evaluated as unstable in outfielder ratio in the closing camp. He watched the outfield when he was a 2nd or 3rd grader in high school, but he was an infielder. He has little experience in outfield defense professionally.

This assessment, however, has completely changed since then. "Things, (Kim) Do-young's speed," said Jin Gap-yong, the coach of the second division. Lee Bum-ho accepted Jin Gap-yong's strong recommendation and appointed Park Jae-hyun for the exhibition game. In that situation, Park Jae-hyun flew wildly. He had a batting average of 0.417 with one RBI, three runs and two steals in six games.

As soon as he was put in the defense as a base at the top of the seventh inning of the match against the Gwangju Samsung Lions on Saturday, Cha Seung-joon's ball headed in front of him quickly. Park quickly stepped back, took the position of catching the ball, and handled it stably. It was a representative scene that proved his growth.

It's not the end. Kim Do-young said, "Jae-hyun seems to be only good at running base, but he saw his strength in hitting. There are not many rookies who can be a pioneer." In fact, Park Jae-hyun played 16 at-bats in the exhibition game and struck out only once. It is a very meaningless sample, but Kim Do-young said, "It is for the first team" when he saw Park Jae-hyun set his strike zone and wield the bat only in it.

Contact and vision are other weapons Park Jae-hyun has. That's why he led off the youth team. Fast feet, consistent defense, and good contact. KIA was looking for a backup who could record a steal success rate of over 90 percent as a pinch runner, and judged that Park Jae-hyun is the right candidate. However, Park's sealing could be more than that.

This is the actual stage. The exhibition game was a practice game. It's time for Park Jae-hyun to really show and prove his value. He won't get many chances at bat anyway. It's a pinch-runner or log-base role in the eighth to ninth innings. Even that, there is a high possibility that Park Jung-woo will have a chance first and then Park Jae-hyun will have a chance.

Nevertheless, he definitely became the star of a drama with a big twist. Park Jae-hyun said, "I must not miss this opportunity. KIA should also draw a blueprint for the future of the outfield through Park Jae-hyun.