Lotte was the team with the most games left in the rest of the game schedule announced by KBO in mid-August. In particular, there were many cancellations of rain. It was also the Lotte game that was canceled for the first time since the launch of the KBO League.
The fact that there are many games left is the same as the number of opportunities. If you make as many games as possible in the remaining games, you will have an advantage in the fight for the round of five.
In fact, Lotte posted a winning rate of 0.636, 14 wins and eight losses in August, ranking second among the 10 teams, raising expectations. If the team continues its momentum until the end of this season, it will be able to achieve a “miracle.”메이저사이트
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung also showed strong enthusiasm. Players also had a unique mindset. “I’m positive. I think we’ll get better,” captain Jeon Jun-woo said, expressing his plan to run until the end of the season.
However, Lotte is only continuing its “hopeful thinking” in September. As of Wednesday, Lotte is ranked seventh. It has posted a winning rate of 0.489 with 62 wins, 4 draws and 69 losses. It is two games ahead of sixth-ranked SSG and 3.5 games ahead of fifth-ranked KT. With nine games to go, chances are not high that Lotte will reverse the trend.
September’s starting pitchers Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson performed their roles, and Park Se-woong was also on track. Lotte’s starting pitchers ranked fourth with a 3.99 ERA in September. This was followed by LG (3.33), Doosan (3.50) and KIA (3.52).
In general, his team’s batting average was good. He also ranked fourth with his batting average of 0.288 in September. His batting average in the scoring position was also 0.290, the same as his team’s.
However, the team could not win because it lacked the strength to keep its defense cap. The bullpen posted an ERA of 6.93, ranking ninth among the 10 teams during the same period. The performance was the worst after that of the Hanwha Eagles (7.26).
The bigger problem is errors. The team ranks first overall with 22 errors in September. During the same period, the average number of errors among the 10 teams is seven. The figure is twice that of Kiwoom (11), which ranks second. This shows that the concentration of the fielders has decreased.
The starting pitcher is good, and the batting lineup is not bad, but they cannot continue their upward trend because they do not have the power to keep them in the bullpen and defense. This is the result of the physical burden increasing as we move into the second half of the season.
In addition, the unseasonable heat in September increases the physical burden. This year, a special heat wave warning was issued during the Chuseok holiday. Eventually, the game on the 18th changed from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. due to the heat.
Given this situation, the burden is increasing. If we win all the remaining games, we can increase our chances, but given Lotte’s recent pace, it does not seem easy to turn the tables.