"How much more do I have to hit?" Lotte, Barnes, if Park Se-woong doesn't make it to the semifinals, it will be difficult
"How much more do I have to hit?" Lotte, Barnes, if Park Se-woong doesn't make it to the semifinals, it will be difficult
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At Jamsil Baseball Stadium on July 3, Lotte's batters gained strength. From the beginning, Gariling's batters targeted Doosan's foreign player, Alcantara. He scored six runs in the first and second innings. He led the game 6-0, and Park Se-woong, who could be the most valuable player among native starters, was on the mound. The game he expected to win, however, only to fail after four innings, allowing Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan to garner two bases-loaded shots. The loss on the day gave Kwak a chance to collapse the next day.
There is a limit when it comes to batting lineup. Lotte's batters did their best in the first half of the season. They almost scored a lot of points in every game. Lotte, which had been ranking 9th to 10th through May, rebounded by recording a winning rate of 0.609 (14 wins, 9 losses and 1 draw), the highest among the 10 teams, in June. Lotte's team batting average in June reached a whopping 0.312. It is far exceeding Kiwoom's 0.302 and KIA's 0.296. The batting average at home is even more impressive. The team rebounded by recording a whopping 0.336. It scored a lot of points in almost every game, supporting pitchers.
However, Lotte is still ranked eighth. Despite its No. 1 winning percentage in June, the team has yet to move up despite its No. 1 batting average, because of the mound.
The biggest reason was the injury of Barnes, the left-handed pitcher. Having been diagnosed with internal muscle damage, Barnes was initially expected to return within two to three weeks, but his recovery was delayed, which stopped him from returning within the first half of the year. It is regrettable that Lotte failed to take advantage of the short-term foreign player system introduced this year. "We did not prepare because we did not know it would take this long," manager Kim said.
On top of that, Na Kyun-an and Park Se-woong, the two pillars that led the Lotte mound last year, collapsed. Park had an ERA of 5.36 in the first half. Park had a poor record of 5.86 in June, and lost six runs in four innings in the last game of the first half. He allowed as many as six runs in the first half, but failed to keep the score at all.
Na's record is even more serious. Her record is important, but she was banned from 30 games due to her privacy. The Lotte Giants held its own disciplinary committee against Na on Friday and announced that it has decided to suspend her from 30 games and punish her for 40 hours of community service activities. Na attended a drinking party with her acquaintances on Sunday night, one day before a home game against the KIA Tigers at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Sunday. Na was sluggish in allowing eight runs in one ⅔ inning, and was removed from the team immediately on Wednesday, the day after the game. 메이저사이트
In other words, there are only two players on the Lotte mound, Walkerson and Barnes. Other than them, there are few starters themselves who can expect QS. This means that they have no choice but to look at the lineup every game.
It is Lotte's eighth team-beating ERA. The mound is too weak to seek the fifth place. The team's ERA is 4.98, ranking seventh in the league. Only Hanwha, KT, and Kiwoom are behind Lotte. Lotte's bullpen, consisting of Kim Won-joong, Kim Sang-soo, Koo Seung-min and Jin Hae-soo, is performing unexpectedly well, but it is not enough to advance to the top five.
Lotte is a future-oriented team. For now, it has secured a fielding team that can last at least five years. Regardless of whether it reaches the semifinals or not, it is time to create a calculated pitching staff. It is a very difficult task.
Will manager Kim Tae-hyung, who has received a lot of support from Lotte fans, be able to include his pitching staff in the new team? If possible, Lotte could simply move beyond this year's round of five and become a team that can expect more next year or the year after next.