Lotte Giants’ mound was the lowest in the team’s ERA twice in the past five years, and was sluggish at its worst, finishing tied for 8th once, but showed a return last year.
Notably, he ranked third (3.83) in the starting lineup last year, showing good performance. He also ranked second in the starting lineup with 769 innings. He had 66 quality starts (more than six innings and less than three earned runs), the second highest in the league, to fulfill his duties as a starting pitcher.
This year, there is a higher expectation. Foreign one-two punch Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson joined from the first Guam spring camp, allowing the verified foreign one-two punch to play a full-time season.
Left-hander Barnes was Lotte’s ace. He defended Lotte’s mound firmly by recording 11 wins, 10 losses and an ERA of 3.28. Notably, he decreased his ERA from 3.62 in the 2022 season to 3.28 last year, showing signs of better adaptation to the KBO league. Barnes has also shown strong performance in innings, reduction in stability and performance.
Regarding the renewal of the contract, there were disagreements in the first place as the player considered entering the Major League, but as he renewed his contract with Lotte without much noise, he was able to join the team without a hitch.
More expectations are high for right-hander Wilkerson. Wilkerson joined the team in the second half of the 2023 season and quickly adapted to the team. Wilkerson had a special performance of 7 wins, 2 losses and 2.26 ERA in 13 games. In particular, 11 out of 13 games were QS, which resulted in calculating every game.
Based on his stable ball control and game management ability, Wilkerson showed the virtue of a starting pitcher who is not swayed much. This year, he joined from the Guam camp, not during the season, and will be able to stand together in the starting race for the 24-season, which runs through practice and exhibition games as well as the opening game.
If these two foreign one-two punches are properly established, Lotte’s starters can compete for the strongest position in the league along with Doosan Bears and KT Wiz, who showed the best performance last year.
Park Se-woong (9-7, 3.45 ERA) and Na Kyun-an (6-8, 3.80), the starting right-hander duo, also played their part in variables such as Asian Games and injuries, respectively. The two players left due to AG transfer and injury, but they kept the Lotte mound firmly by showing outstanding performances among native starting pitchers.
In particular, if Park Se-woong, who is in an environment where he can solve military service problems and leap forward again, shows the best starting pitcher in the league, Lotte’s first to third starters can have a formidable appearance that makes it difficult to distinguish between superiority and inferiority.토토사이트 순위
Lotte’s starting rotation is still undecided. Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung says he has yet to completely decide on any position or position except for Ryu Kang-nam, the starting catcher. If Lotte can secure more resources in its rotation following the stable first to fourth starters in the second half of last season, its might become even scarier.
