The Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants, who experienced nine last places, the most in the history of professional baseball, were confirmed to be eliminated from the postseason on the same day. Both teams brought the league’s representative masters, but they did not show any immediate results.
Hanwha and Lotte’s “Tragic Number,” which was confirmed to be eliminated from the postseason side by side on the 24th, disappeared. Hanwha suffered a 4-5 come-from-behind loss against Gocheok Kiwoom, and Lotte lost 1-5 against Suwon KT in silence.메이저사이트
Lotte (63 wins, 72 losses, 4 draws) and Hanwha (64 wins, 74 losses, 2 draws, and 464 wins, 464), which are ranked seventh to eighth by a half-term gap, respectively, have five more games and four more to play, but they will be eliminated from the fall baseball league. They are now in a bitter race for the seventh place.
The Hanwha Eagles has failed in the fall baseball league for six consecutive years since 2019. The dark period has been extended to post season No. 1 (2018) for the past 17 years since 2008. Lotte has also been suffering from fall baseball No. 1 (2017) for the past 12 years as it failed to enter the post season for the seventh consecutive year since 2018.
The Hanwha Eagles recruited An Chi-hong, an FA slugger, and Ryu Hyun-jin, a Major League pitcher, returned to the Major League, raising expectations for the team’s advance to the fifth round. As expected, the team showed strong performance in the early days of the season. After losing the opening game, it grabbed seven consecutive wins and became the sole No. 1 player, creating a surprise early season. It started the season with eight wins and two losses in its opening 10 games.
However, the short-lived spring ended in April when the team ranked 10th (6 wins and 17 losses and a winning percentage of .261). Ryu struggled in the early days of the season without being able to adapt to the ABS zone, and the bullpen session was shaky and suffered come-from-behind defeats. Foreign pitchers also fluctuated due to injuries and sluggish performances. Jonathan Peraza, who was active in the first half of the season, showed sluggish performance in the second half, and Chae Eun-seong, who remained silent in the first half, revived in the second half, showing off unpredictable performance. Moon Dong-ju and Noh Si-hwan, who grew up as pillars of pitching and hitting last year, also fell far short of expectations this year.
In the end, Choi Won-ho resigned in the form of voluntary resignation when he fell to eighth place on May 27, and Kim Kyung-moon was appointed on June 2. After manager Kim Kyung-moon, a “veteran master” who led Doosan and NC to advance to the 10th postseason, the pitchers’ positions were re-established, and the fielders stood out one by one in the competition system. From the end of July to the 4th, it was on a scary rise in midsummer, catching up with fifth-ranked KT by one game, but Moon Dong-joo lost his driving force after leaving the starting lineup due to accumulated shoulder fatigue.
Lotte also enjoyed a whirlwind season, just like Hanwha. It had bottomed out at No. 10 through May, but rebounded to No. 1 in monthly rankings in June (14 wins and 9 losses and a winning rate of .609). In July, it fell back to No. 10 (6 wins and 14 losses and a winning rate of .300) and moved up to No. 2 in August (14 wins and 8 losses and a winning rate of .636). Until last Friday, the team had trailed fifth-ranked KT by a gap of two games, but ended up losing ground to No. 7 (8 wins and 10 losses and a winning rate of .444) in September.
After the end of last year’s season, Lotte appointed Kim Tae-hyung, who led Doosan to the Korean Series for the sixth consecutive year and led the era of the dynasty with three wins. The team started in a new atmosphere, but this year, the two sides were not in sync. Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson, foreigners’ one-two punch, played their part, but other Korean pitchers performed poorly. Native ace Park Se-woong was on and off, and Na Kyun-an was given disciplinary action for drinking on the eve of the game, which was the worst year. Amid slumping closing pitcher Kim Won-joong, it was painful to suffer 38 come-from-behind losses, the most in the league.
His poor defense has not been fixed. He had 122 errors, the second most after KIA (141). DER (Defensive Efficiency Ratio), an indicator of out-handling of in-play balls, also ranked 10th at .649. With the team batting average of .283 and the OPS of .778, the batters showed better performance than the league average, but weak pitching and defense capabilities caused the team to suffer a loss.
Although fall baseball failed again, it was a year when they found hope. Moon Dong-ju, who recovered from his scapula in the second half of the year, overcame sluggish performance to become an ace player, and Kim Seo-hyun overcame deep growth pains to grow into a must-win group. Left-hander Hwang Joon-seo, who gained experience as a rookie this year, and Jung Woo-joo, a high school fastball pitcher for this year, will join the team next year. Strong young pitchers have laid the foundation for rebuilding the team.
Lotte owes much to the simultaneous explosion of potential of young fielders, including outfielder Yoon Dong-hee, who grew up as a key player last year, as well as young fielders such as first baseman Na Seung-yeop, second baseman Ko Seung-min, and outfielder Hwang Sung-bin. With third baseman Sohn Ho-young as the center hitter in trade, the fielders have built up core strength that will not lag behind any other team.
The real game between the Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants is next season. Now is the time when the leadership of the two masters, who are entering the second season of their three-year contract, should produce tangible results.
After manager Kim Kyung-moon joined the team during the season, Hanwha quickly settled down its team and elevated it to a competitive position. As the team has been identified, it is expected that the team will beef up internal competition through intensive training in the closing and spring camps. The growth of the fielders is the key, and the team is also drawing keen attention in the FA market. Manager Kim Tae-hyung also took a deep look at Lotte’s team with big and small tasks throughout the year. As the team has laid the foundation for the fielders, its task is to elevate its pitching capability, which is its weakness. Attention is focusing on how the team will resolve the negotiations with bullpen pitcher Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min, who will play in the FA market.