“There are players who are missing from the national team. We are considering replacement selections in their place.”
A two-week gap due to participation in the Hangzhou Asian Games. All 10 clubs have a loss of power due to the national team, but among them, the Lotte Giants are one of the teams that is hit the hardest.
Among a total of 24 players on the Asian Games national team, Lotte will have two starting pitchers, Park Se-woong and Na Kyun-an 토토사이트. A hole is immediately created in the native rotation, excluding two foreign pitchers. Fortunately, Shim Jae-min has been showing good performance as a starter recently, so we can breathe a sigh of relief.
Unlike previous years, due to frequent rain cancellations, the remainder of the season is packed with games without any gaps. This is why Lotte, Samsung (Won Tae-in), Doosan (Kwak Bin), etc. are making efforts to use at least one more game before AG, announcing that they will start on the 21st and 22nd. In the long run, if they win the Asian Games gold medal, they will enjoy the sweet fruit of military service exemption, but in the process, their challenge for fall baseball or their last hope may be dealt a fatal blow.
However, Lotte is currently behind the postseason Maginot Line, the semifinals, by 6 games. Each team has 12 games (Kiwoom) left in the 27 regular season games (KIA). A miraculous winning streak is needed to catch up.
Initially, veterans with selection experience such as Lee In-bok and Han Hyun-hee were naturally mentioned as replacement starters during the Asian Games.
What do Lotte acting manager Lee Jong-woon think? Acting manager Lee, who met at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 17th, brought up the name of rookie Lee Jin-ha, who was registered in the first team the day before. He is a pitcher who wore a Lotte uniform in the second round of the rookie draft (13th overall). He is a player with an impressive 1m90 physique and an excellent fastball of 140 km/h. He was included in the opening lineup and appeared in 3 games in April, but was expunged after allowing 3 runs in 1⅓ innings, so he stayed in the 2nd team until now and tasted the 1st team air again.
Acting manager Lee has experience directly coaching Jin-ha Lee during his time as the second team commander. He said, “He is a really good pitcher. Before, he was not able to get a chance due to his poor health (back), so he was sagging. He is a player who will grow into a starting pitcher in the future. Now that the situation is right… I am also considering him as a replacement starter during the Asian Games.” did.
In addition to Jin-ha Lee, Seung-hyeon Jin is also showing good performance by taking charge of the latter half of the game in September.
“Lee In-bok’s condition is not improving. He is not in good shape in the second team either. A pitcher who fits the situation needs to be used. I am cautious about saying who is a replacement starter right now, and I will consider it based on his condition in the future.”
Acting coach Lee praised Shim Jae-min, who has played well in the last two games in a row, saying, “This is a great harvest this summer. He is getting better as time goes by. He knows how to play with the ball and is a player with a very good ability to manage the game.”