Will it be okay to have at least three left hands in the starting lineup? Lotte dreaming of a 'left-hander kingdom' How was the case of other teams
Will it be okay to have at least three left hands in the starting lineup? Lotte dreaming of a 'left-hander kingdom' How was the case of other teams
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Lotte Giants will be reborn as an unexpected left-hander kingdom.
In the beginning, Lotte was thirsty for left-handedness. Ahead of the 2024 season, the team even collected veteran left-handed bullpens including Lim Joon-seop, Jin Hae-soo.
The mood has changed in just one season. Kim Jin-wook, who slightly burst his potential as the starting player this year, gave up joining the military athletic unit and remained in the team.
Chung Hyun-soo and Song Jae-young have shown 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 are also alive for prospects such as Hong Min-ki and Park Jae-min.
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 rapidly.
What stands out in particular is the starting lineup. For Lotte this year, Kim Jin-wook (18 games), Na Kyun-an (14 games), Lee In-bok (6 games), Han Hyun-hee and Lee Min-seok (five games or more), and Chung Hyun-soo (4 games) and Park Jin-young (3 games) each played as starting pitchers.
However, both foreign pitchers are left-handed, and Kim Jin-wook, who is likely to start fourth, is also left-handed. Chung Hyun-soo and Kim Tae-hyun are also receiving hot expectations as left-handed starters, 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 will have 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 were the only left-handed starters. Four of the five starters were left-handed, including foreign players McCarty-Elias, Kim Kwang-hyun and Oh Won-seok last year. Elias, Kim Kwang-hyun and Oh Won-seok remained the same this year, but changes occurred when Oh was traded to KT Wiz.
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, including 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 the Korean series.
What the coaches of the two teams have been saying together is, "Left hand and right hand are not important. It is important for a good pitcher to start." The starting rotation has been changed little by little depending on the pitching tendency, but there are limitations.
In the end, there is a strong presence of a left-hander native ace called Kim Kwang-hyun and Yang Hyun-jong. On top of that, the coach and the team pushed hard. 먹튀검증
Coach Kim Tae-hyung also makes judgments based on his skills in front of him, and does not tend to be prejudiced against using players. At the beginning of the season, the starting rotation is expected to include three left-handers of Barnes, Davidson and Kim Jin-wook. The fifth selection will be determined based on the performance of the spring camp. If Chung Hyun-soo or Kim Tae-hyun show better-than-expected performances, there may be four left-handers in Lotte's history.