Everything I was sure of has been called into question. Six years into a nightmare. No matter which way you look at it, the ‘first win’ is questionable. How can Lotte get out of its current predicament?
Lotte will play its first regular season game of the KBO against the NC Dinos at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 29th. It will be Lotte’s home opener at Sajik.
The team had prepared and started the season ambitiously and with high expectations under manager Kim Tae-hyung. However, the current reality for Lotte is a four-game losing streak. In 2018, Lotte lost seven straight games to start the season. The team went into the Sajik home opener with a gloomy mood, having not won an opening game in six years.
Coincidentally, the schedule is similar to 2018. In 2018, the schedule was also Incheon (SK), Jamsil (Doosan), and Sajik (NC).
Lotte played evenly in their first three games, losing all three in close games. On the 23rd, they lost their opening game against SSG 3-5. The next day, on the 24th, they rallied from a 0-6 deficit to tie the game with six runs in the top of the ninth inning. However, in the bottom of the ninth inning, 안전놀이터 the leadoff hitter Heredia hit the game-winning home run and the team lost in vain. On the 26th, KIA also scored the first run, but they couldn’t score any more runs and lost in the 8th inning. The 27th game was a self-destructive 2-8 loss to an unprofessional defense that forgot the basics. They only committed two errors, but the unrecorded errors doomed Lotte.
They became a ticking time bomb.
The much-anticipated batting lineup was nowhere to be found. The team batted just 2-for-31 (138 at-bats) and left nine stranded runners per game. On top of that, they struck out 42 times in four games. Ten strikeouts per game, including Go Seung-min (eight), Yoon Dong-hee (six), Reyes (five), Jeon Jun-woo, Na Seung-yup, and Park Seung-wook (three or more), is a clear sign that something is wrong.
Lotte’s lineup doesn’t have any big guns. They have three home runs in four games, but none of their players have big swings. Even Victor Reyes, a foreign hitter, doesn’t have a big swing at the moment. However, Lotte’s bats are striking out more than any other team. It’s third most behind KT (44) and SSG (43), both of whom have played five games. Lotte has only played four games since their game against KIA was canceled due to rain.
Lotte believed that the impact of the automatic pitch judgment system (ABS) would be minimal. However, no one has been able to adapt to the ABS system, and their batting has not improved. Everyone else had the same amount of time to adjust during the exhibition games, but Lotte has been slow to adjust. The high number of strikeouts can also be explained by the lack of understanding of the ABS zone.
Of course, Incheon and Gwangju played most of their exhibition games at Sajik Stadium,
Which is where they are currently playing their regular season, for the first time this year. There are rumors that there are differences in ABS zones at different stadiums, but if so, it would defeat the purpose of having ABS. It can be inferred that Lotte is less adaptable than other teams.
During spring training, the players and other on-field personnel took an abstract approach to ABS and said, “I’ll only know when I experience it.” The front office, which has seen all the ABS discussions, needs to help. At the end of last year, the team changed managers and front office members, but if they didn’t follow through with the new process, they lacked support. Baseball is in a period of unprecedented transformation, even if the players are the ones doing it, and it was the club that watched and confirmed the process.
ABS was introduced in April last year after 11 discussions between the executive committee and the board of directors.
In order to ensure a smooth transition and a soft landing, the club’s support staff had to constantly educate the ABS zone and help them quickly adapt to the changed situation. The proactive measures and preparations for ABS were nowhere to be seen during spring training after the introduction of the program and confirmation of the regulations. Hanwha’s operations team proactively moved to organize a demonstration in Daejeon for ABS adaptation even before the start of this year’s Spring Camp, and the SSG, NC, etc. also made every effort to adapt quickly.
Lotte underwent a front-office reorganization last year to improve departmental understanding and strengthen professionalism, and it paid off. The communication and harmony with the field is something to reflect on again, and considering how Lotte was divided and how the team was unbalanced in the past, 카지노사이트 추천 some questions should be asked to analyze and improve.
Now, Lotte will host their home-opening three-game series against the NC Dinos on the 29th. Lotte will start Aaron Wilkerson on the mound in search of their first win.