No more targets. Lotte has a homework assignment that shouldn’t be put off.
This year, Lotte formed an internal consensus that it should not form a “natural enemy relationship” with certain teams. This is the only way they can look beyond fall baseball.
Last year, Lotte won 64 games, lost 76 games, and tied 4 games (.457 winning percentage). There were only two teams that did not win against a specific team. They went 4-12 against KIA and 5-10-1 against SSG.
While it was disappointing to lose to SSG, who were an absolute powerhouse, the team was more disappointed to lose to KIA. If the team had been able to keep up with their direct competitors in the top five, the top five race could have been saved. Only 4.5 games separated them from fifth-place KIA.
Trying to overcome nemesis trauma and this year’s Lotte has yet to form any special nemesis relationships. The 1-3 record against SSG was disappointing, but it proved that they can be competitive. With the exception of SSG and Samsung (1-2), they have the edge in head-to-heads. There are no series sweeps either.
So Lotte was on track to fulfill its goal of eliminating the nemesis, but once the nemesis was eliminated, Lotte became a target. Left-handed starting pitchers. This year, Lotte is 1-8 against left-handed starting pitchers.
Lotte’s opponents against left-handed starters (date/game result/starting performance)
- April 4, Incheon SSG / 1-3 loss (cold rain in the 7th inning) / Oh Won-seok 7 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 1 earned run
- April 8, Sajik vs. KT / 3-7 loss / Benjamin 6 innings, 6 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 3 runs scored
- April 19, Sajik vs. KIA / 0-6 L / Lee Yi-ri 5⅔ innings 3 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, no runs allowed
- April 21st Changwon NC / 3-2 win (10th inning) / Koo Chang-mo 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, no runs allowed
- May 3, Gwangju KIA / 2-10 L / Yoon Young-cheol 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 1 run allowed
- May 17, Daejeon vs. Hanwha / 1-2 loss (10 innings) / Sanchez 5 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 run allowed
- May 20 vs. Sasik SSG / 0-5 L / Kim Kwang-hyun 6 innings, 1 hit, 9 strikeouts, no runs allowed
- May 21st Resignation SSG / 3-6 L / McCarty 5⅔ innings 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 2 earned runs
- May 24th Resignation vs. NC / 1-3 loss / Choi Sung-young 5 innings, 5 hits, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts, 1 run.
Failed to capitalize against ace-level pitchers and inexperienced young pitchers alike. Against left-handed starters, he’s just 1-for-34 (182 at-bats) with one home run, nine RBI, 16 walks, 49 strikeouts, and a .498 OPS. That’s one of the worst numbers against left-handed starters.
Right-handed hitters have been the strongest, with Yoo Kang-nam going 4-for-1 with a double, home run, and OPS of 1.118 in 17 at-bats, and Yoon Dong-hee going 4-for-10 with a home run. However, the main left-handed hitters, including Kim Min-seok (16-for-4, .250), Ahn Kwon-soo (19-for-4, .211), Rex (14-for-2, .143), Noh Jin-hyuk (15-for-15) and Ko Seung-min (4-for-4), have struggled against left-handed starters. 메이저사이트
It’s frustrating for Lotte. It’s an unexpected headache and homework assignment. Last year, Lotte batted .244 (202-for-812) with 19 home runs, 79 RBIs, 69 walks, 190 strikeouts, and an OPS of .683 against lefties. His performance against lefties ranks in the middle of the league. While it’s true that historical data resets, it’s easy to get frustrated with the current slump simply because the roster is slightly skewed toward lefties.
“We’re having a lot of conversations,” Sutton said. I think there are definitely adjustments that need to be made offensively. We need to adjust our approach, we need to adjust our game plan, and we’re having a lot of discussions,” Sutton said, adding, “Obviously, we had some good at-bats against left-handed pitching last year. We’re not too worried about it because we have some injuries and our hitting cycle is going down as a whole, but we’re discussing it,” he said nonchalantly. However, if this situation continues until the end of the season and they don’t solve their homework, Lotte’s path to fall baseball will be a thorny one.
Currently, left-handed starters are the centerpiece of the rotation for the top teams. SSG, in particular, has four out of five starters who are lefties, from Kim Kwang-hyun to McCarty to Oh Won-seok to new foreign pitcher Elias. They could face left-handed starters in all three games. LG has Kim Yun-sik, NC has Koo Chang-mo, and KIA has Yang Hyun-jong and Lee Yi-ri. With the current poor performance, you can’t avoid targeted starts.
Homework shouldn’t be procrastinated. You have to work on it, even if it’s just a little bit. Lotte still has a lot of homework to do. Will Lotte be able to solve her homework and avoid being targeted?