Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung was asked about the timing of Charlie Barnes’ return before the away match in Game 7 of the season between the Doosan Bears and the team in the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League, which was scheduled to be held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 2nd.
Barnes, the ace in name and reality, has been wearing Lotte’s uniform since the 2022 season. Barnes, who pitched in 31 games in his first season and had 12 wins and 12 losses and a 3.62 ERA, played in 30 games last year as well with 11 wins and 10 losses and a 3.28 ERA. And he promised a third companion for a total of $1.35 million (about 1.87 billion won), which includes 1.2 million dollars in guarantees and 150,000 dollars in incentives, before this season.안전놀이터
In his first appearance this season, Barnes started by allowing one run (three earned runs or less in six innings) against the KIA Tigers, but in his second appearance, he gave up five runs (five earned runs) in three ⅔ innings against the NC Dinos. However, he recorded three quality starts in four games in April, recording one win, two losses and a 3.81 ERA, and in May, he showed stronger performance with two wins and no loss in five games with a 2.60 ERA.
However, Barnes has yet to take the mound after the game against the Samsung Lions on May 26. The reason is his adductor muscle injury. As a result, Barnes voluntarily left the mound in the first ⅔ inning at the game against Samsung. Asked about Barnes’ condition ahead of the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on May 28, manager Kim Tae-hyung expressed mixed feelings, saying, “It will take some time. I say it will take two to three weeks, but it will take up to a month. I think it will take about a month if I play catch and play in the second division game.”
Lotte made up for the crisis with its promising players Kim Jin-wook, Lee Min-seok, and Han Hyun-hee. However, the coach’s concerns have finally become a reality, leading to a longer-than-expected departure. Of course, the team started moving to return to the mound. In a match against KT Wiz in the second division on April 28, Barnes allowed three strikeouts during two innings, allowing no run with one out. He also displayed his maximum speed of 145 km. Then, when will Barnes be able to return to the mound.
Asked about the timing of Barnes’ return ahead of the match against Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 2nd, manager Kim Tae-hyung said, “It doesn’t matter if he plays in the first game of the second half, but I think it will be a little burdensome. I think he will probably play in the second or third game after that.” He said he can return to the team when he faces off with SSG Landers, whose schedule for the second half of the year begins. However, looking back at it at this point, it is a clear regret that Barnes has not been able to minimize his absence through the “alternative foreign player recruitment system,” which is being actively utilized by the Doosan Bears as well as SSG, Hanwha Eagles, and KIA Tigers.
Of course, when Barnes left, Lotte went through several tests, giving promising players a chance to take the mound. It was certainly encouraging to be able to check the skills of future resources through this, but if an alternative foreign player had been recruited, it could have eased the starting rotation concerns and gained a little more momentum. Some of them did not know Barnes would have such a long hiatus, but some of them lacked Lotte’s response.
When asked about recruiting short-term substitute foreign players, Kim said, “We didn’t prepare. I didn’t know it would take this long. It got longer and longer,” expressing regret, “The schedule came out even after two weeks, but I didn’t want to use (alternative foreign player recruitment card) then. I should have used it from the beginning.” Still, the good thing is that he endured the period without Barnes, and that the ace can return at the beginning, although it is not the first game in the second half, is a relief.
Starting with a showdown with the Kiwoom Heroes last week, Lotte is continuing its five-game winning streak against the KIA Tigers and Hanwha Eagles. It has only five wins left until the 50% win rate, and it is not long before it reaches the top five. The team failed to play three consecutive games due to rain until the end of the first half, but it is determined that it will increase the number of wins as much as possible before the end of the first half. Therefore, Park Se-woong, the “Glasses Ace” who was revived as the starting pitcher on the 3rd, will play, and Aaron Wilkerson, the “Sajik Jesus,” will lead Lotte to its seventh consecutive win on the 4th.