The Lotte Giants in the Korea Professional Baseball finished the first half with 47 wins, 39 losses, and 3 draws (win rate .547), placing 3rd. This marks the highest win rate in the first half since they last reached the Korean Series in 1999. It is the first time since 2012 that Lotte has finished in the top 3 in the first half.
Kim Tae-hyoung maximized the team's strength with his unique strategy. Despite ongoing injury challenges, young players rotated in to fill the gaps.
Can Lotte pursue the 1st place Hanwha Eagles and the 2nd place LG Twins in the second half? Starting pitchers Park Se-woong and foreign pitcher Davidson are key players.
Park Se-woong recorded 9 wins and 6 losses with an earned run average of 5.38 over 17 games. Davidson recorded 7 wins and 5 losses with an earned run average of 3.61 over 18 games. They rank 1st and 2nd in wins among Lotte's pitchers. Park Se-woong ranked 5th in the league for wins.
However, Park Se-woong, who had achieved 8 consecutive wins by mid-May, fell into a sharp decline starting at the end of May. Even after being removed from the first-team roster for ten days of recovery, he could not regain the excellent pitching form he displayed in the early part of the season.
Since June, Park Se-woong has struggled with 1 win and 3 losses and an earned run average of 11.91 over 5 games, allowing 30 runs in 22⅔ innings. In a game against the KIA Tigers on the 5th, he collapsed, giving up 8 runs in 4 innings with 11 hits and 3 home runs, marking his worst outing of the season.
Davidson also experienced a significant drop in performance from June onward. He has pitched in 6 games (32⅔ innings) with 1 win and 4 losses and an earned run average of 6.06. This is a stark contrast to his performance before the end of May, where he had achieved 6 wins and 1 loss with an earned run average of 2.45 over 12 games.
Among the 24 pitchers in the league who met the innings requirement in the first half, Park Se-woong has the lowest earned run average since June. Davidson has the lowest earned run average among foreign pitchers since June.
At the end of May, Barnes was released, and substitute player Gamboa joined, recording 6 wins and 1 loss with an earned run average of 2.11 over 7 games, showcasing a solid performance as the number one starter.
Rookie Lee Min-seok, who has been starting as a substitute since early May, has made a surprising impact since June with 1 win and 1 loss and an earned run average of 2.10 over 6 games (30 innings). Among pitchers who have thrown over 30 innings since June, he ranks 5th in earned run average and 1st among homegrown pitchers.
Na Gyun-an has a season record of 2 wins and 6 losses with an earned run average of 4.36 over 18 games, but since June, he has found stability with 2 wins and 3 losses and an earned run average of 3.38 over 7 games (5 of which were as a starter).
Park Se-woong and Davidson must step up in the second half for Lotte to compete for the top spot. Given this season’s low offense and high pitching, the role of the starting pitchers is crucial.
Lotte will face LG in a 4-game series starting on the 17th. Davidson made one appearance against LG, pitching 6 innings and allowing 2 runs, resulting in a loss. Park Se-woong also made one appearance against LG, pitching 5 innings and allowing 4 runs, resulting in a loss.
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