Who will be the star of the KIA Tigers' table setter in 2025? Considering Kia's manager Lee Bum-ho's personality, Park Chan-ho and Choi Won-joon will most likely be the combination of table setters. Attention is focusing on who will prepare the table for Kim Do-young, who will try again for 40 home runs and 40 steals this season. 메이저사이트

Kia has parted ways with Socrates Brito, a foreign hitter who accompanied him for three years until the 2024 season. Socrates played in 140 games in the 2024 season, displaying a batting average of 0.310, 171 hits, 26 homers, 97 RBIs, and 92 points. Socrates played various roles from No. 1 to No. 6. At the end of the season and in the Korean Series, he mainly played as No. 2 hitter. However, Kia has yet to renew its contract with Socrates, and thus has to re-determine who will play as No. 2 hitter in the 2025 season. 

Chances are high that Park Chan-ho will be the first to take the leadoff spot. Park Chan-ho made his best year in the 2024 season. Park played in 134 games during the 2024 season and posted a batting average of 0.307, 158 hits, five homers, 61 RBIs, 20 steals, 86 runs, on-base percentage of 0.363, and a slugging percentage of 0.386. Park won the KBO Defensive Player Award in 2024, as well as his first career shortstop Golden Glove. 

In the first batting order of the 2024 season, Park was the most outstanding performer with a batting average of 0.296, 101 hits, four homers, 36 RBIs and 27 walks. Manager Lee Bum-ho also showed strong faith by appointing Park as the leadoff. 

Manager Lee Bum-ho said, "I feel like when Park Chan-ho is at No. 1, I feel like he is getting more active than when he is at No. 9. If he thinks that he is just the 9th batter in the 9th batting order and pays a little attention to getting on base, he seems to have a stronger mindset that he should lead the team to the center lineup in the 1st batting order. I feel like I am more focused on hitting and stealing bases," in anticipation of Park Chan-ho for the leadoff. 

As expected, Park Chan-ho peaked as a winning shortstop with the Daily MVP award with three hits, one RBI and two runs from the leadoff spot at the moment of winning Game 5 of the Korean Series. 

Now, the key is who will be used in the second batting order. Manager Lee Bum-ho prefers to use fast-paced players in the table setter position. In particular, there is a view that left-handed hitters can create a better opportunity to score by pulling on the leadoff base. This is why Choi Won-joon is a likely player to fill the void in Socrates. 

Choi Won-jun played in 136 games in the 2024 season and recorded a batting average of 0.292, 128 hits, nine homers, 56 RBIs, 21 steals, 75 points, an on-base percentage of 0.371, and a slugging percentage of 0.40. While mainly used in the 2nd and 9th batting order, Choi Won-jun played in the 2nd batting order with a batting average of 0.310, 48 hits, four homers, 21 RBIs and 14 walks in the 2024 season. 

Manager Lee is expected to deploy fast hitters forward by appointing Park Chan-ho and Choi Won-joon as table setters. On top of that, Kim Do-young will play the role of troubleshooter in the third batting order. With only two homers left in the 2024 season, Kim regrettably concluded his bid to garner 40 homers and 40 steals. In order to re-challenge with 40 homers and 40 steals in the 2025 season, a combination of batters that are ultimately placed forward and backward is important. If a fast runner is in the base, the combination of balls will inevitably change.

The weight of the fourth and fifth batters also affects the situation. Ideally, Na Sung-bum and new foreign hitter Patrick Wisdom will be placed in the fourth and fifth batting order, and veteran Choi Hyung-woo will be placed in the sixth batting order. It is curious how Lee will set the batting order to maximize the destructive power of the third batter Kim Do-young.