Professional baseball player Lee Min-seok (22) of the Lotte Giants showed impressive pitching, not falling far behind league leader in earned run average, Drew Anderson of the SSG Landers.

Lee Min-seok started the game against SSG Landers on the 15th at Incheon SSG Landers Field in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League,' pitching 5⅓ innings with 5 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 1 earned run for the loss.

In the bottom of the first inning, after allowing a double to lead-off hitter Choi Ji-hoon, Lee Min-seok overcame a scoring threat by retiring the heart of SSG's lineup consisting of Jung Jun-jae, Guillermo Heredia, and Han Yu-seom. With one out in the second inning, he issued a walk to Park Sung-han but struck out Jo Hyung-woo and caught Kim Sung-wook’s fly ball to center field.

In the third inning, Lee Min-seok recorded strikeouts against Seok Jeong-woo, Choi Ji-hoon, and Jung Jun-jae, but in the fourth inning, he allowed a single to lead-off batter Heredia. Although Han Yu-seom was retired on a foul fly to third base, Lee Min-seok allowed another single to Kim Myung-jun and issued a walk to Park Sung-han, leading to a bases-loaded situation with one out. However, he managed to escape the jam by striking out Jo Hyung-woo and Kim Sung-wook.

In the fifth inning, Lee Min-seok again produced a quick 1-2-3 inning but in the sixth, he threw a fastball at 148 km/h to lead-off batter Heredia, which resulted in a lead-off solo home run. Han Yu-seom was retired on a fly ball to center field, but Lee Min-seok then allowed a double to Kim Myung-jun, eventually being replaced by Jeong Hyeon-su. Jeong Hyeon-su struck out Park Sung-han, and then Kim Kang-hyun came in to induce a ground ball to the shortstop from Jo Hyung-woo, preventing any additional runs. However, the Lotte Giants failed to capitalize on SSG starting pitcher Anderson and the bullpen, losing 0-1, marking Lee Min-seok's second loss of the season.

Lee Min-seok recorded a pitch count of 99, utilizing fastballs, sliders, changeups, and curves. His fastball reached a top speed of 155 km/h. Although his strike rate was not high at 58.6%, he effectively limited walks to 2, while demonstrating a competitive spirit against batters.

Lee Min-seok, who joined Lotte as the first overall pick in the 2022 rookie draft, had a somewhat disappointing debut season with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and an earned run average of 5.88 over 27 games (33⅔ innings). In 2023, he was limited to just one appearance due to an injury sustained in a relief outing during the season opener against Doosan. After undergoing Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament reconstruction) and surgery to remove bone fragments, he missed the remainder of that season.

After recording 2 losses and 1 hold with an earned run average of 7.26 over 18 games (31 innings) last season, Lee Min-seok was given an opportunity as a starting pitcher this season due to gaps in Lotte's rotation. Currently, he has a record of 2 wins and 2 losses with an earned run average of 5.05 over 7 games (35⅔ innings). While this isn't considered outstanding, he has shown potential as a starting pitcher in each game.

In the game, Lee Min-seok showcased a powerful pitching duel against SSG ace Anderson, who now leads the league in earned run average (2.09), without being outmatched at all. The pitchers continued a tight 0-0 game through the fifth inning. While it was unfortunate to allow a home run to Heredia, it was nonetheless a remarkable performance that earned much applause from all the fans.

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