2023 MVP → Magu who led the team to victory in 2024...Lotte this year? Expectations are growing.
Feb 26, 2025
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Sweepers who won the league last year also appeared. James Nail (KIA Tigers) made fun of batters with a sweeper that was scarier than a fastball over 150km. Before leaving the regular season due to an unexpected injury, he led KIA with 12 wins, 5 losses and a 2.53 ERA, and also led the Korean Series to the championship by pitching well in the first and fourth games.
Again this year, a foreigner who throws a sweeper appeared. Can Tucker Davidson Glory the Lotte Giants.
Davison is also a valuable starting pitcher in the major leagues. Lotte said that if it focuses too much on the ball power and recruits players who lack the ability to play in the inning, there is a high risk of shaking the entire season.
Davison's best reputation is that he is a player who constantly studies and develops himself. It was judged that the fastball speed was not insufficient in KBO standards.
There were also concerns that it could overlap with Charlie Barnes, an existing foreigner. They are the same left-hander, and both players have something in common: pitchers who compete with sharp breaking balls and ball control on fastballs in the mid-to-late 140km range rather than overwhelming fastballs. The Lotte club even considered deploying verified Barnes as the first starter and Park Se-woong and Davison as the second or third starters after closely observing Davison ahead of the spring camp.
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When I opened the lid, the two players' styles were very different. Barnes' main weapon is a sharp fastball and slider thrown with a fast swing at a relatively low arm level. In addition to this, a change-up is added to create an intuitive ball mix that catches the eye of the batter.
Davison, on the other hand, has a wider choice. It is relatively slow but has the ability to control the rapidity by using large-angle curves, fork balls, and sweepers. He also got a pass point for hiding the ball just before pitching (deception).
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Davison's sweeper bends wide to the outside of the left-handed batter. He is creating a more impressive angle by using KBO official balls that usually stick to his hands than Major League Baseball. The speed is around 130km, and the difference in speed between fastball and slider is also appropriate. With a curve of around 120 kilometers, if the right ball combination is added, there will be no shortage of taking away the timing of the batter.
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Davison has to fill the vacancy of Wilkerson, who went 12-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 196 ⅔ in 32 games last year. Last year, Wilkerson's WAR (based on Sports-to-I, contribution to victory over substitute players) was 5.32. He was second overall in pitching after Kyle Hart (5.80).
In order for Lotte to go to the fall baseball, Davison must show a better performance than Wilkerson. Will Lotte be able to show the presence of the real ace that it wants.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
