The competition for the starting position of the 'integrated champion' KIA Tigers will begin.

Last year, KIA was agonizing over the management of the mound as starting pitchers left one after another due to injuries. Wil Crowe, left-hander Young-gun Lee Eui-ri and Yoon Young-chul, who were the first starters, were injured in turn. To make matters worse, even ace James Nail faced a major negative factor at the end of the season, suffering from a broken jaw.
However, Kia quickly found an alternative at a time when many people were injured. It chose Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun, two promising pitchers, as substitute starting pitchers, to fill the vacancy of the injured.

Right-hander Hwang Dong-ha played 103 ⅓ innings in 25 games last year, recording 5-7 losses and an ERA of 4.44. He showed competitiveness by pitching five or more innings in 14 of the 21 games he started, and in all three games in September, he played five innings, showing an outstanding ERA of 2.40.

Right-handed pitcher Kim Do-hyun pitched 75 innings in 35 games during the 2024 season, recording four wins, six losses and three holds with a 4.92 ERA. Kim, who has been in charge of starting since mid-July last year, showed off his stability as he played more games, and posted a good 2.12 ERA in three games in September.

Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun have established themselves as first-team pitchers, and KIA's starting pitchers are stronger and more abundant this year.

KIA re-signed its first starting pitcher Nail in November last year and hired a new foreign pitcher Adam Oler in December. Nail and Oler, who have formed a new one-two punch, will lead the team. 스포츠토토

In the native starting lineup, Yang Hyun-jong, the "great pitcher" who won 11 games last year, is in good shape, while left-hander Yoon Young-chul will play a role this year as well.

Although Lee Eui-ri, who underwent elbow ligament joint surgery (Tommy John Surgery) in June last year, is expected to miss the early 2025 season to boost his sense of practice after rehabilitation, he is not worried because Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun are present.

Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun, who will train as starting pitchers in next year's spring camp, are expected to compete fiercely for selection through practice games and exhibition games.

In addition, rookie Kim Tae-hyung, who joined KIA as the fifth overall pick in the first round of the rookie draft last year, will also enter the competition.

Kim Tae-hyung, who used to be an ace at Deoksu High School, is a right-handed pitcher who can play various breaking balls, including sliders and curves, with speeds of more than 150 kilometers per hour. If he proves his competitiveness in actual games such as practice games and exhibition games, he deserves to seek the starting position.