Nail vs. Tolhurst in Game 1 Showdown... Son Ju-young Included in Entry

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Professional baseball teams KIA and LG will clash tomorrow (the 17th) in the first game of the best-of-five semi-playoffs. With KIA's Nail and LG's Tolhurst announced as the starting pitchers, LG's closer Son Ju-young, who was unable to play in the wildcard games due to an injury, caught attention by being included in the semi-playoff roster.

Reporter Bae Jeonghun has the details.

[Reporter]

Son Ju-young, who was left off the roster for the previous wildcard deciding series due to neck disc symptoms, surprisingly made the list for the semi-playoff roster today.

Son's condition has improved after receiving treatments such as injections. Although he has not yet pitched in the bullpen, the LG coaching staff appears to have judged that he will be able to take the mound during the five-game, three-win semi-playoff series.

Second baseman Shin Min-jae, who had to leave the game due to hamstring pain during the wildcard deciding series, thankfully avoided a major injury and also made the roster.

KIA, which secured third place with Kim Do-young's dramatic game-winning home run in the final regular-season game last Monday, took a day off on Tuesday and prepared for the semi-playoffs by holding training sessions without practice games over the past three days.

While regular-season third-place KIA holds the upper hand in all strength factors—including offense, pitching, and defense—as well as the head-to-head record, LG is determined to once again recreate the numerous upsets that have marked the history of the semi-playoffs.

In past semi-playoffs, higher-seeded and lower-seeded teams are tied evenly at 17 wins and 17 losses, and since the introduction of the wildcard system in 2015, lower-seeded teams have secured one more win with 6 victories and 5 losses.

As expected, KIA has announced ace Nail and LG has named Tolhurst as their respective starting pitchers for Game 1.

(Video Editing: Lee Jae-sung, Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.