Lotte crashes like a truck with broken steering wheel and brakes… Where to find new power?

The Lotte Giants are falling like a truck with a broken steering wheel and brakes. Currently, the Lotte Giants are aiming high and falling low. The question is, what is the new dynamic for Lotte right now, and can it actually stop the fall and pull the team back up?

Lotte was unable to break out of a three-game losing streak when it suffered a crushing 1-12 defeat at SSG on April 16. It tied for the most runs conceded this season and was the highest-scoring loss.

They are 4-10 in June, which is the worst monthly winning percentage. The losing streak is getting longer, with four straight losses, two straight losses, and three straight losses. This is a typical pattern of a struggling team. They give up early runs and get blown out early. This week, Charlie Barnes, Dan Streeley, Na Kyun-ahn, and Han Hyun-hee didn’t last five innings. The pattern of giving up an early run and having to play catch-up repeats itself. With the game on the line, there’s a risk that the chasing pitchers could give up a run at any time. It’s a vicious cycle of chasing and then collapsing from exhaustion.

It’s hard to stay positive and build on the momentum we had in April and May. I knew there would come a point where I would lose momentum and slow down, but it’s been a long time coming, and I’m falling faster and faster. If we can get a little bit of a dip and then bounce back and play about a fifth of our remaining games, we’ll have a chance to get back into the game later, but right now we’re close to the bottom of the barrel.메이저사이트

They don’t know where to look for offense. For starters, the bullpen has been overloaded lately, with Kim Sang-soo and Kim Jin-wook likely to return to the first team on the 17th. Both of them were in the middle of the bullpen before they were called up, so they’ll be hoping for a boost. Coincidentally, since the 7th, when Kim Sang-soo and Kim Jin-wook were expunged, Lotte has played four extensions and lost all of them. The team’s bullpen was bruised and battered. As a result, their plan of hanging in there with young pitchers during the rebuilding period completely fell apart.

The batting lineup hasn’t been very good either. The overall batting pace is off. Even in April and May, when they weren’t the best hitters, they somehow managed to win games with the power of their lineup and phenomenal focus with runners in scoring position, but the current Lotte team doesn’t have that focus. Their batting average with runners in scoring position in June is 3-for-59 (42 hits in 143 at-bats), the second-best in the league, but the inability to translate that into wins is a sign of a lack of harmony.

[OSEN=Busan, Lee Seok-woo] Lotte Giants Noh Jin-hyuk 029 2023.06.14 / foto0307@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=Busan, Lee Seok-woo] Lotte Giants Jeong Hoon 033 2023.06.15 / foto0307@osen.co.kr
The increasing number of injuries is also a concern. Noh Jin-hyuk is expected to be out of the first team for up to two weeks with a side injury. Furthermore, Jung-hoon, who has been playing as a specialist since his return in June, had side discomfort on the 15th against Sasak Hanwha, and it happened again on the 16th against Incheon SSG. In the end, Jung-hoon voluntarily withdrew from the game, and the possibility of his exclusion from the first team cannot be ruled out.

The issue of foreign players also needs to be considered in depth. Staley and Barnes have not been able to show their full potential, and Rex is still at risk of a knee injury. Streeley and Barnes are healthy but shaky, and Rex isn’t even healthy. Perhaps it’s not unreasonable to say that Rex should be prioritized over the two pitchers when it comes to Lotte’s foreign players.

[OSEN=Busan, Reporter Lee Seok-woo] On the 14th, the Lotte Giants and Hanwha Eagles of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League played at Sajik Stadium in Busan. Lotte Giants coach Bae Young-soo visits Stratley, who hit a two-run single to Hanwha Eagles’ Chae Eun-sung in the first inning. 2023.06.14 / foto0307@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=Busan, Reporter Lee Seok-woo] On June 13, the Lotte Giants and Hanwha Eagles of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League played at Sajik Stadium in Busan. Barnes of the Lotte Giants is pitched out after allowing a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning. 2023.06.13 / foto0307@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=Busan, Lee Seok-woo] Lotte Giants Rex 079 2023.06.15 / foto0307@osen.co.kr
The immediate direction is also mysterious. Giving rookie-level players a chance at a time when they need to stabilize with the first-team players is also a questionable choice. The timing of the first-team roster for catching prospect Son Seong-bin, who was released from Commerce instead of catcher Lee Jung-geun, is also a question mark.

It’s a chaotic time for Lotte, with a series of bad choices. The more we think about it, the more it remains an unsolvable problem: where should Lotte find its momentum and how should it overcome this period?