Goo Seung-min made his appearance after 9 days in the second team, but he allowed more runs.
On the 23rd, Goo Seung-min appeared as a relief pitcher in a game against the 2025 KIA Tigers held at Sangdong Stadium, recording 1⅓ innings (37 pitches), 2 hits allowed, 2 strikeouts, and 3 runs (unearned). He pitched multiple innings but allowed runs due to successive defensive errors.
Goo Seung-min was excluded from the first team roster on the 8th. This season, he has performed poorly with 1 loss and 1 hold in 5 games in the first team, recording an earned run average of 14.73. He allowed runs in 3 of the 5 appearances. Goo Seung-min, who went down to the second team for the second time this season, recorded 1 inning with 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run in a game against KT's second team on the 14th.
After 9 days since his last appearance, Goo Seung-min took the mound in the top of the 8th inning with a large lead of 11-3. He got the leadoff batter Park Jae-hyun out with a ground ball to the second baseman, and Jeong Hae-won struck out on the 5th pitch. After two outs, he allowed a double over the center fielder's head to Choi Jeong-yong. In a run-scoring crisis, he handled Hwang Dae-in with a ground ball to the shortstop and managed to prevent any runs.
The Lotte lineup added 4 more runs in the bottom of the 8th, extending the score to 15-3. Goo Seung-min, who threw 18 pitches, took the mound again in the 9th.
He induced a ground ball from the leadoff batter Lee Young-jae with 2 strikes, but allowed him to reach base due to an error by the shortstop. He then allowed a right-field hit to Shin Myung-seung, putting runners on first and second base with no outs.
The next batter Han Seung-taek hit a ground ball to the second baseman, but the second baseman failed to field it properly and dropped it. The runner from second base rounded third and came home. With no outs and runners on first and third, he got Park Min out on 3 pitches with a Samjin.
As Goo Seung-min’s pitch count neared 40, he was replaced, and relief pitcher Jeong Seon-woo took over. Jeong Seon-woo got 2 outs but allowed a three-run homer to Park Jae-hyun, resulting in Goo Seung-min being charged with 3 runs (unearned).
Goo Seung-min appeared in 66 games last year, recording 5 wins, 3 losses, 13 holds, and an earned run average of 4.84. He served as a setup man in front of closer Kim Won-jung.
After completing the season, Goo Seung-min acquired free agent status and signed a 2+2 year contract worth a maximum of 2.1 billion won (with 300 million won signing bonus, total annual salary of 1.2 billion won, and total aggregates of 600 million won) with Lotte. However, he is spending a long time in the second team due to poor performance this season.
The Lotte bullpen features Jeong Cheol-won, a veteran Kim Sang-su, and lefty Jeong Hyeon-su as key pitchers. Recently, Choi Jun-Yong, who struggled last year, has come up to the first team and is bolstering the bullpen with fastballs over 150 km/h. When will Goo Seung-min be able to return to the first team?
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