Professional baseball team Lotte Giants, which succeeded in its first winning streak of the season, faced an injury setback. Key player Son Ho-young (31) has been sidelined with an injury just 9 games into the season.

Ahead of the game against Hanwha in Daejeon on the 3rd, Lotte removed infielder Son Ho-young from the first-team roster and called up catcher Park Jae-yeop.

After being traded to Lotte early last season, Son Ho-young, who burst onto the scene and established himself as the starting third baseman, performed well with a batting average of .317, hitting 126 times in 38 at-bats, 18 home runs, and 78 RBIs, with an OPS of .892. However, he repeatedly injured his hamstring from May to June, landing on the injured list twice and falling 16 plate appearances short of the minimum requirement.

This season, he started as a regular but sadly could not avoid injury. He has been sidelined with an injury just 9 games into the season. On the 2nd, after hitting a single in the 9th inning against Hanwha, he was substituted for pinch runner Jeon Min-jae due to side soreness.

With a slight strain in his right internal oblique muscle, he is in a condition to return to the game as soon as the pain subsides, having avoided a serious injury, but for precautionary reasons, it was decided to remove him from the first-team roster. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung noted, "He went out (in the 9th) and then said he wasn't feeling well, so we took him out. After checking today, his condition isn't good, so we took him off the roster," adding that he was uncertain about the recovery time, stating, "I still don't know. For now, we've removed him from the roster, and we need to see if there's pain before finding the right time to register him again."

Son Ho-young has recorded a batting average of .229 in 9 games this season, with 8 hits in 35 at-bats and 4 RBIs, and an OPS of .537. Although his start was not good, he registered hits in the last 3 games, and in the game against Hanwha on the 2nd, he went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 walk, contributing to Lotte's 6-2 victory. It is unfortunate that he was sidelined just as he was finding his hitting rhythm.

Although Son Ho-young is out, it is fortunate for Lotte that starting catcher Yoo Kang-nam's hit-by-pitch injury is not serious. In the game against Hanwha on the 2nd, Yoo was hit on the right hand by a fastball from Kim Jong-soo in the 6th inning and was substituted for pinch runner Kim Dong-hyeok, but fortunately, he avoided a fracture. He has a bruise and will not participate in that day's game, but he successfully completed batting practice before the game. Manager Kim Tae-hyung expressed relief, saying, "We will see how it goes over the next day or two, but it seems okay."

Just in case, catcher Son Ho-young's spot was filled by rookie catcher Park Jae-yeop on the first-team roster. Last month on the 31st, Lotte excluded Son Seong-bin from the first-team roster, but due to Yoo Kang-nam’s hit-by-pitch incident, they will temporarily operate with three catchers.

That day, Lotte faced Hanwha's starting pitcher Kodi Ponce and presented a lineup of Jeon Jun-woo (left fielder), Jeong Hoon (designated hitter), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Victor Reyes (right fielder), Kim Min-seong (second baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Lee Ho-jun (shortstop), Jeon Min-jae (third baseman), and Jeong Bo-geun (catcher). Jeon Min-jae filled in for Son Ho-young at third base, while Jeong Bo-geun donned the catcher’s mask once worn by Yoo Kang-nam.

The starting pitcher is Na Kyun-an. He must continue Lotte's good momentum after their first winning streak of the season. In the last game against SSG on the 27th, he pitched 4⅔ innings, allowing 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs without a decision. Manager Kim Tae-hyung expressed his expectation, saying, "He can go up to 100 pitches. It would be great if he could also extend the innings."

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