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| 롯데 반즈. Sports Chosun DB |
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| 롯데 김진욱. Sports Chosun DB |
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| Davidson is enjoying the joy of winning the World Series. Photo =Davidson SNS |
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Lotte Giants will be reborn as an unexpected left-hander kingdom.
Initially, Lotte was a team thirsty for left-handers. Ahead of the 2024 season, he even collected veteran left-handed bullpens such as Lim Joon-seop, Jin Hae-soo and others.
The mood has changed in one season. First of all, Kim Jin-wook, who burst his potential slightly as a starter this year, gave up joining the Armed Forces Sports Unit and remained on the team.
Chung Hyun-soo and Song Jae-young showed their potential, and expectations are high for Kim Tae-hyun, the fourth overall rookie draft. Shim Jae-min is also expected to overcome his back injury and join early next season, and expectations for prospects such as Hong Min-ki and Park Jae-min are also alive.
On top of that, Barnes has decided to accompany Lotte for the fourth year, and Tucker Davidson, who will join instead of Wilkerson, is also a left-hander. The number of left-handed pitchers on the roster has increased dramatically.
What stands out in particular is the starting lineup. This year, Lotte's first to third starters of Wilkerson, Barnes and Park Se-woong were firm, while Kim Jin-wook (18 games), Na Kyun-an (14 games), Lee In-bok (6 games), Han Hyun-hee, Lee Min-seok (five games above), and Chung Hyun-soo (4 games) and Park Jin (3 games) each played as starting pitchers.
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| Barnes signing his 4th year renewal. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants |
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| Davidson signing the contract. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants |
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However, both foreign pitchers are left-handers, and Kim Jin-wook, who is likely to start fourth, is also left-handers. Chung Hyun-soo and Kim Tae-hyun are also receiving hot expectations as left-handers, and Shim Jae-min is also in the starting position if he shows his performance in the second half of 2023.
This is the point where Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung's head gets complicated. Park Se-woong is certain to be the right-handed starter, but Na Kyun-an is expected to watch him in the spring camp as the fall was too big last year. Han Hyun-hee, Lee Min-seok, and Park Jin also showed sufficient potential with five starts.
SSG Landers and KIA Tigers are among the teams whose starters were left-handers. Last year, SSG included foreign players McCarty-Elias, Kim Kwang-hyun and Oh Won-seok, and four of the five starters were left-handed. Elias, Kim Kwang-hyun, and Oh Won-seok remained the same this year, but changes occurred when Oh Won-seok was traded to KT Wiz.
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| Kim Tae-hyun. Photo courtesy of Lotte Giants |
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Last year, KIA also included four left-handers, which led to Panoni, Yang Hyun-jong, Yi Eui-ri and Yoon Young-chul, in the rotation. Yang Hyun-jong and Yoon Young-chul remained the same this year, and foreigners also had a high proportion of left-handers such as Aldred-Lauer-Stout, but Lee Eui-ri was injured and Hwang Dong-ha filled the position, achieving an integrated victory in the regular season and Korean series.
The leaders of the two teams have been saying together that "left hand and right hand are not important." It's important for a good pitcher to start"He has made small changes to the starting rotation depending on his pitching tendency, but there are limitations.
In the end, there is a strong presence of a left-handed native ace called Kim Kwang-hyun and Yang Hyun-jong. On top of that, it is the result of the coach and the team pushing hard.
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| Jeong Hyun-soo. Photo courtesy of Lotte Giants |
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Head coach Kim Tae-hyung also makes judgments based on his skills in front of him, but does not tend to bias the appointment of players. First of all, it is expected that the starting rotation will include three left-handers of Barnes, Davidson and Kim Jin-wook at the beginning of the season. The fifth starter is expected to be determined by the performance of the spring camp. If Chung Hyun-soo or Kim Tae-hyun show better-than-expected performances, a selection team of rare "four left-handers" in Lotte's history may appear.
lunarfly@sportschosun.com
