The Lotte Giants, whose key players are gradually reviving, continues to fight for the lead.
Lotte won 8-3 in an away game against KT Wiz on the 14th. This season, he recorded 19 wins and 11 losses (0.633 win rate) and maintained second place.
It is the first time in 37 years since 1986 that Lotte won 19 wins in the first 30 games of the season. Lotte recorded 19 wins, 1 draw and 10 losses (0.655 win rate) in the first 30 games of the 1986 season. The win rate based on 30 games this season is the second highest in club history. Lotte is the original team that has participated in the KBO League since 1982.
At the end of April,스포츠토토 Lotte, who won 8 consecutive wins in 4705 days (9 consecutive wins on May 2), took the lead after 3949 days (based on 10 games or more). It blows away the concerns of ‘Bomde (Lotte that is only good at spring)’ and is on the rise in May. However, it is slightly different from the upward trend shown last month.
For Lotte, Na Kyun-ahn and Ahn Kwon-soo led the pitching for the month of April. Na Kyun-an recorded 4 wins and an ERA of 1.34, and was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for April by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Ahn Kwon-soo, a “third-generation Korean in Japan,” led the team in batting average (0.318) and slugging percentage (0.447) in April, leading the attack.
However, in May, Kyun-an Na posted an ERA of 9.00 with 1 loss in 2 games, and Kwon-soo Ahn, who is suffering from elbow pain, is slowing down with a batting average of 0.200 in 4 games. Instead, the existing players who had shrunk are stretching and rising little by little.
Ace Dan Strayley reported his first victory in his 7th appearance this season with a scoreless score in 6 1/3 innings against KT on the 14th. Strayley, who was in crisis due to his sluggish ERA of 5.82 until April, has been giving up a sense of stability in two consecutive games following the 9th day before the Doosan Bears, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings.
Charlie Barnes, who had been sluggish with an ERA of 7.58 until April, rebounded against Doosan on the 10th with 2 hits, 8 strikeouts and no runs in 6 2/3 innings. On the 16th, against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, he tries to win three consecutive wins.
Han Hyeon-hee, a free agent (free agent) transfer student, also pitched well with a no-run (6 innings) in the first start of the season against KT on the 13th. ‘Local ace’ Park Se-woong has not yet won, but he is much better than last month.
In the bullpen, Choi Jun-yong’s addition stands out. Choi Jun-yong, who has been active as a set-up man and finisher for the past two years, was sluggish in an exhibition game in March and joined the first team only at the end of April. He is adding strength to his waistline with a total of 5 scoreless innings in 5 appearances this month.
On the other line, Han Dong-hee survived. It is a streak of hits in the last 10 games. He was last in batting average (0.169) among 61 players who filled the required number of at-bats in April, but in May, he ranked 7th in batting average (0.385), raising his season batting average to 0.227. In particular, he was strong with 4 hits in 4 at-bats in scoring position. He fell to No. 7 and moved up to No. 3 in the batting order.
In order to continue the ranking fight at the top, the players who will eventually have to do it need to be active. Lotte is gradually stabilizing its power as the main players get on the right track in May. In addition to the performance of existing players, new faces are added, showing the power of ‘changed Lotte’.