Kim Tae-hyung’s essentials for ‘chiol’
“Hitting goes in cycles”
From the start of the season through the end of April, Lotte had a team batting average of 0.262 and a team OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of 0.702 in 30 games. This was well below the league average team batting average (.274) and team OPS (.762). The team batting average was ninth in the league and the team OPS was dead last. The new blood has been slow to develop as the mainstays of the team’s offense have aged or disappeared one by one. The offense as a whole was not strong.
However, Lotte’s offense has been coming together as of late. Since May 1, the 30-game stretch has been a completely different story. Lotte has a team batting average of .288 and a team OPS of .795 in that span. This is well above the league average batting average (.275) and OPS (.763). They rank second in team batting average and third in team OPS. The batting lineup has a completely different picture.
It’s even more positive when you consider that veterans Jeon Jun-woo and Jeong Hoon went down with injuries one after the other, and Son Ho-young, who had been performing well, missed most of May with a hamstring injury. Son Sung-bin (.950 OPS), Yoon Dong-hee (.896), Ko Seung-min (.894), Na Seung-yeop (.873), and Park Seung-wook (.847) have split time, and foreign hitter Reyes has made up for the lack of long balls with a .319 OPS in that span. Hwang Sung-bin was a key player who turned the team’s fortunes around with a .318 batting average and active infield play. Yoo Kang-nam also led the team’s batting with sporadic long hits.
However, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung doesn’t put much importance on hitting, saying that it has a cycle. Rather, it’s the mound that matters to Kim. After all, he emphasizes that the mound must be strong in order to survive in the long run. He explains that the team’s recent success in winning games against top teams, only to have the good momentum fade away, is largely due to the lack of a solid mound staff. The team’s good performance since May, but the lack of a long winning streak is also related to this.
He also pointed to the absence of foreign ace Charlie Barnes, but Kim said that “three pitchers are not performing well.” The team’s mound was thought to be a solid strength before the season, but these players are not doing their part and the team’s mound is not progressing properly. The three players Kim is talking about are right-hander Na Gyun-an (26), right-hander Choi Jun-yong (23), and right-hander Koo Seung-min (34).
Na Gyun-an was a starter, while Choi Jun-yong and Koo Seung-min were in the middle of the rotation. They were one of the few players to retain 바카라 their spots in Kim’s new Lotte, but their performance this year has been less than expected, causing the team some concern. It’s not easy to fill their gaps, given their importance to the team. The process of rebuilding the team’s entire mound staff will be difficult.
Na Gyun-an was dropped to the second team after going 1-7 with an 8.27 ERA in 11 games this season. Choi Jun-yong is also currently in the second team after posting a 5.40 ERA in 27 games. Kim’s only regret is that he can’t throw his own pitches. Koo Seung-min has a 9.00 ERA in 19 games after a poor start to the season. The start of the season was not too good. Lotte struggled to find a replacement starter and experimented with new faces in the bullpen.
“The pitching staff has lost three pitchers that I thought would be good,” Kim said, but added, “There’s not much difference between fifth and sixth place. The pitchers are the most important thing. We need them to come back quickly and settle down. The batters are getting some confidence and recognizing the situation a little bit, but the four pitchers are the problem, and (the other players) are filling in well, but it’s important to move up a little bit.”
Koo hasn’t been bad since his return. His ERA in his last 10 games is 2.53. Na Gyun-ahn is readjusting to the second team. Kim hasn’t set a deadline. He doesn’t care much about the second team’s record. In the end, he said, it’s all about how he feels, and he’ll make his decision after receiving reports from the second team coaching staff. When the four players, including Barnes, are fully integrated into the first-team roster, that could be the point at which Kim makes a decision.