He pitched more than foreign pitchers. The steady image of being an innings eater can lose its significance if the performance does not support it. Is Park Se-woong, the 'Glasses Ace' of the Lotte Giants, really doing well right now?

On the 10th, Park Se-woong started in a game against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park, pitching 5 innings and allowing 12 hits (2 home runs), 2 walks, and 8 earned runs before leaving the mound, not able to prevent the team's 3-12 loss.

Park Se-woong's impressive pace, which had led to 8 consecutive wins, has clearly faltered. After the 8 wins, he suffered 4 losses in 5 games. His earned run average, which was 2.25, soared to 4.34 in just 5 games. Only once in 5 games did he achieve a quality start (6 innings pitched and 3 earned runs or fewer). His average earned run average over these 5 games is 8.67 (27 innings and 26 earned runs) with 39 hits allowed (2 home runs), 15 walks, and 19 strikeouts. Park Se-woong has also been reliable in his starting rotation this year, not missing any games. Not skipping his turn in the rotation is the greatest virtue of a starting pitcher. Park Se-woong has valued innings highly, and he took great pride in it. However, without supporting performance, the significance can diminish. In fact, he has pitched over 5 innings recently, but with many earned runs.

The power felt in his pitches is not the same as in the early part of the season. The quality of his pitching is not overwhelming. Although his maximum speed reaches the late 140 km/h range, even at the same speed, factors such as fastball spin rate, vertical movement, pitch release height, and arm angle can vary. The team's data department and coaching staff need to carefully analyze this.

Park Se-woong has already thrown a lot of pitches. He recorded a total of 1,423 pitches in 14 games, averaging 101.6 pitches per game. His total pitches and pitches per inning are both the highest in the league. Wilmer Font of Hanwha, who is dominating the league this year, threw a total of 1,402 pitches in 14 games, averaging 100.1 pitches per game. Park Se-woong has recorded more pitches than Font. Recently, many teams in the KBO League have granted domestic key starting pitchers a ten-day break after pitching 12 to 13 games, as they have determined it is a time when physical strain could occur due to the long season and have taken proactive measures.

Won Tae-in (Samsung) was removed from the first team after pitching in 12 games on the 7th. On the 4th, Kim Gwang-hyun (SSG) was also removed from the first team for rest after pitching in 13 games. Ko Young-pyo (KT) was excluded from the first team roster for rest on the 27th of last month after pitching in 11 games and has since returned. Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), who was excluded from the first team on the 6th due to inner thigh pain, coincidentally suffered an injury at the 13-game mark.

Last year, Park Se-woong pitched 2,926 times in 30 games, averaging 97.6 pitches per game. The record for most pitches thrown was Aaron Wilkerson with 3,124 pitches (32 games), followed closely by Park Se-woong.

He has been running non-stop. Park Se-woong, like last year, has been consistently present in the starting rotation this year. Furthermore, Lotte has had significantly fewer issues, such as rainouts, this year. However, his current state is such that it requires a check on his physical condition rather than merely blaming the pattern of the matches. Even the 'Iron Man' has moments when he reaches his limits.

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