It’s been a bumpy road to the first win. Lotte, coached by Kim Tae-hyung, is struggling to get the last out of the batting order. It would have been different if Han Dong-hee (25), who had prepared for the season with more ambition than anyone else, hadn’t gone down without delivering.
Lotte lost its third straight game. Lotte lost 1-2 against the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on June 26. It was the third straight loss to open the season, and the first win under manager Kim Tae-hyung was yet another failure.
The game was played in a frustrating flow throughout. They had runners on base in every inning, only retiring the side in order in the fourth inning against starter Yang Hyun-jong. In the sixth inning, Jung-hoon Kim Min-sung and Na Seung-yup drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. However, Park Seung-wook grounded out to first base to score one run. With runners on second and third, pinch-hitter Yoon Dong-hee struck out.
In the end, they paid the price for only scoring one run in a big scoring opportunity.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Choi Hyung-woo gave up the tying solo home run, and while the offense was unable to capitalize on the Kia bullpen, the Lotte bullpen collapsed. In the eighth inning, Koo Seung-min singled off leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho, and a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch put runners on first and third. Socrates gave up the game-winning hit, and the game was over.
The pitching staff, especially the bullpen, was unable to close out the game in the late innings in all three losses. But overall, there are no blowouts. All three games were evenly matched.
The real problem is the batting lineup. The batting lineup is constantly getting runs, but they can’t get the final out. In the opening game against SSG on the 23rd, they had nine hits and six walks, but left 12 runners on base. The next day, on the 24th, they made a miracle comeback from 0-6 to 6-6 in the ninth inning, but couldn’t pull it off and lost the game. 안전놀이터 추천 They also left nine stranded runners. Against KIA on the 26th, they had 10. The team hasn’t been able to showcase its cool scoring power as it has left around 10 runs in every game.
The batting lineup is getting more inconsistent.
Foreign hitter Victor Reyes is batting 4-for-6 with one home run and two RBIs in three games, while Go Seung-min is 3-for-8 with four RBIs in 13 at-bats. However, there is no clear-cut solution.
The presence of Ahn Chi-hong, who left for Hanwha as a free agent after last season, can’t be ignored, but ultimately, there’s no one who can hit for the cycle. Han Dong-hee, who suffered an adductor injury in an exhibition game, will be missed the most. Han Dong-hee enlisted in the Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Commerce) during the season. However, despite her military enlistment, she continued to train privately in Los Angeles with the active support of her off-season “role model” Lee Dae-ho. He took lessons from Kang Jeong-ho, who had established himself as a batting instructor. She left the team without showing anything during the exhibition games, so there were no tangible results, but everyone knew that she had made a step-up in the off-season and was determined.
Han Dong-hee is a hitter who can add long-hitting power to Lotte.
After Kim Tae-hyung took over as coach, he expressed his disappointment with the lack of long-hitting power. However, if Han Dong-hee could be revived, she could fill the gap. The batting lineup itself could have been different. Kim Min-sung, who is filling Han Dong-hee’s third base spot, and Park Seung-wook, who is playing second base in Ahn Chi-hong’s former spot, are not enough to fill the gap.
Han went down with an injury in an exhibition game against SSG on March 10. He suffered a torn adductor muscle and will need four to six weeks of rehabilitation. He could return as early as mid-April.
Lotte is in desperate need of their first win of the season. In the process, the missing players are becoming apparent. How can Lotte overcome the disappointment of the batting lineup and find new solutions?