Lotte Giants is having a hot August after a nightmarish July. What will the end of the 2024 season be like a rollercoaster.안전놀이터
As of Wednesday, Lotte has recorded 50 wins, 57 losses and three draws (0.467 win rate) this season. It won the home game against the Kiwoom Heroes on Wednesday, securing 50 wins.
If you look at the rankings, you will find some promising points. Currently ranking eighth in the league, Lotte has maintained a 2.5 game gap with fifth-ranked SSG Landers (0.491 win rate), which is eligible to advance to the postseason. If the gap is this far, it can be reversed instantly if consecutive wins and losses overlap. In addition, the team has no gap with seventh-ranked Hanwha Eagles (0.468 win rate).
Notably, Lotte has continued its upward trajectory since August. Through August 19, Lotte has been ranking first in a month with nine wins and three losses and a winning percentage of 0.750 in 12 games in August. Having grabbed four consecutive wins since the start of August, Lotte has been continuing its strides without losing a single game.
Son Ho-young (30), who has been hitting hard with a monthly batting average of 0.423 and four homers in August, said recently, “Older players are doing well,” referring to the reason for the rebound. “Our team’s batters are doing so well. I hit 10 hits every time I play,” Son said. “I think it’s good because the pitcher is good or bad.” Hwang Seong-bin (27), who has a monthly batting average of .409, said, “I was having a hard time then, but I waited for August to come soon. If the months change, the results in July will also be over.”
In July alone, such performance was unthinkable. Lotte had the lowest winning rate among the 10 teams by posting six wins and 14 losses (winning rate of 0.300) in 20 games in July. The team’s winning margin increased from -5 (June 28) to -13 (as of July 31). During the period, Kim Won-joong lost one win, two losses and earned run average (ERA) without making any saves. Then, his team succeeded in rebounding in August.
Lotte has been on a rollercoaster ride this year. Having started the season with four consecutive losses in the opening period, Lotte had a bad start to the season, reaching double-digit wins in 33 games. It ranked 10th with a monthly win rate of 0.276 (8 wins, 21 losses and 1 draw).
With the exception of foreign hitter Victor Reyes, however, Lotte showed an upward trajectory with 13 wins, 10 losses and one draw (winning rate of 0.565) in May. In June, Lotte also led the team in batting average (0.312), scoring (179 points), and OPS (0.860), displaying explosive attack. As a result, Lotte posted the highest winning rate among the 10 teams with 14 wins, nine losses and one draw (winning rate of 0.609).
Still, Lotte has many young players, who have failed to show stable performance as they have failed to ease fluctuations. Unlike last year, when the team showed an upward trajectory through May but crashed after June, however, Lotte is boosting its winning rate this summer. The flame of the fight over the five strongest teams is also on fire again.
The key is the remaining games. Lotte has 34 more games to play, the most as of Wednesday. “We have many more games to play,” Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said recently. “We may lose a lot, but we have a chance to win a lot.”