Lotte lost 6-9 against Sajik SSG on the 5th. With this, the ‘losing series’ was confirmed early in the weekend’s three-game series, and at the same time, it fell into a three-game losing streak. Also, with this game, the win-loss (42-49) margin deteriorated to ‘-7’. As the ride with 6th place KIA spread further to 4 games, the possibility of advancing to fall baseball became lower.
The game on this day had numerous factors of defeat, including four double hits, runners, and catcher mistakes. However, the biggest loss was the sluggishness of starting pitcher Han Hyun-hee. Han Hyun-hee was beaten without digesting less than 5 innings with 7 hits and 3 runs in 4 innings that day. As the starting pitcher was unable to throw for a long time, only 6 bullpen pitched on this day, and in particular, finisher Kim Won-joong provided an excuse for allowing 3 runs while playing multiple innings.
From a long-term perspective, Lotte’s biggest anxiety factor is the 5th starter. Lotte is rotating the starting rotation in the order of Aaron Wilkerson, Charlie Barnes, Park Se-woong, Na Gyun-an, and Lee In-bok (Han Hyun-hee) in the second half. Up to the 3rd starter Park Se-woong is okay. Wilkerson, who joined as a substitute for Dan Straley, won a victory in his KBO league debut, and also achieved a Quality Start (QS) in his second start. Barnes, who continued pitching ‘Pongdang Pongdang’, also regained stability from July, and harvested QS with a victory in the first game in August. Park Se-woong also achieved QS+ (7 innings, 3 runs or less) in a recent game.
However, the sluggishness of Lee In-bok and Han Hyun-hee, the 5 starting resources, is getting longer. Lee In-bok, who returned from rehabilitation after undergoing surgery earlier this year, joined the starting rotation at the end of June. After his return, his performance was not good, with 3 losses in 7 games (1 win) and an earned run average of 5.63. QS is not even once. In the match against SSG on the 4th, it collapsed with 7 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings and was knocked out early. Two-seam and slider are his main weapons, and his strengths as a typical grounder judo pitcher are largely affected. His avoidance slugging percentage (0.500) and avoidance on-base percentage (0.410) are the highest among team starting pitchers. His on-base percentage per inning (WHIP) is also 1.87, which is the worst of the starting pitchers. As the situation was like this, on the 5th, he was eventually canceled from the first team entry. Instead, Kim Do-gyu was called up to fill his vacancy.
Han Hyeon-hee, who temporarily joined the rotation due to Na Kyun-an’s sudden hamstring injury, is also not in a good situation. In the match against Gwangju KIA on the 30th of last month, which was the first game of his substitute selection, it was relatively smooth with 4 innings and 1 run. However, he was let down in the last 5 days and was disappointed.
Having signed a contract with Lotte for a total of 4 billion won (down payment of 300 million won, guaranteed annual salary of 1.5 billion won, and option of 2.2 billion won) this season, he was expected to play the role of a ‘madangsoe’ between the starter and the bullpen. However, his earned run average in both starts (5.03) and saves (7.62) is a mess.메이저사이트
Lotte, which was so powerful that it once ranked first in the league this season, is easily giving away games that it won, perhaps because it has recently suffered from the scorching heat. Fans’ resentment is growing day by day, but the opportunity to rebound is seldom seized. If the hole in the fifth starting pitcher cannot be filled right away, fall baseball this year seems far away.
International newspaper provided articles