The fate of the Lotte Giants, who dream of a miraculous fall baseball, will be determined in the remaining 20 games of the second half. Only when they win a monthly report card similar to that of last August can they maintain the spark of hope for the semifinals.토토사이트
Lotte lost 2-12 in Game 15 between the teams against KT Wiz of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 5th. Left-hander rookie Chung Hyun-soo, who started as a starter, failed to overcome the aftermath of the collapse of three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and three runs in one ⅔ inning, and veteran sidearm Han Hyun-hee, who took the mound afterwards, with three hits, one strikeout and three runs in ⅔ innings.
Due to the loss, Lotte lost 57 wins, 64 losses and three ties for this season, dropping one spot from the 7th to the 8th. The team was lagging behind SSG Landers (60 wins, 67 losses and one tie) who defeated the LG Twins in terms of winning percentage. The team also widened its gap with fifth-ranked KT (63-64 losses and two draws) to three games.
Lotte’s September start is not just a bad one. It had two wins and two losses in four games to prevent a bigger minus in win-loss margin. The urgent priority is to set up home games against the Samsung Lions on June 6 and SSG on June 7-8, and close the gap with KT.
It is not easy to catch up with a team that is leading by more than three games at the end of the pennant race. Objectively, KT is currently in the most advantageous position in the competition for fifth place. However, as Doosan in fourth place recently lost its lead in a five-game losing streak, and narrowed its gap with sixth-ranked Hanwha Eagles to two games and SSG and Lotte to three games, middle-ranked teams also have opportunities.
Lotte’s realistic scenario of taking the 5th place is to eliminate the two teams and the ride under the assumption that Doosan and KT maintain their current winning rate. The minimum condition is that they have to win more than 13 games in the remaining 20 games in the second half. In this case, it is possible to beat Doosan and KT in the final winning rate. In particular, the plan full of hope can be continued only if they win the match against Suwon KT on the 24th and Sajik Doosan on the 26th.
Until April, Lotte was at the bottom of the list with 8 wins, 21 losses and 1 draw and a winning rate of 0.276. It is expected to be pushed out of the competition for the semifinals early as it is seven games behind the LG Twins, who were ranked fifth at the time.
However, Lotte did not back down easily. Since May, the team has posted 49 wins, 43 losses and two draws. As the team faltered to the lowest monthly winning rate with six wins and 14 losses in July, it rebounded to 14 wins and eight losses in August.
The Lotte Giants, led by head coach Kim Tae-hyung, will try to regain the seventh place in a home game against the Samsung Lions at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on June 6. Photo by the Lotte Giants
For Lotte, it is important to continue the upward trend in August. It is inevitable to suffer physical difficulties because there are the most remaining games, but we are trying to overcome fatigue based on our desperation for autumn baseball.
Lotte failed to advance to the postseason for the sixth consecutive year until last year after advancing to the semi-playoff as the third place in the pennant race in the 2017 season led by head coach Cho Won-woo. If it spends the fall without “baseball” this year, it will have another password.
Lotte previously ranked eighth in 2001-2004, fifth in 2005, and seventh in 2006 and 2007, posting a disgraceful password of 8-8-8-8-5-7-7. It is expected that Lotte will do its best until the end, as there is still a chance to overcome the resentment of fall baseball with fans without repeating its dark history.