The players who were aggressively recruited in the free-agent (FA) market have disappeared from the first team. After suffering back-to-back defeats in the opening series for two consecutive years, can they be a support for the Lotte Giants?

Lotte lost both games in the opening series against the LG Twins, held at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium on the 22nd and 23rd. They lost all of them terribly. They managed only 4 runs in 2 games while allowing 22 runs, losing the opening game 2-12 and suffering another complete defeat the next day at 2-10.

Lotte started last year with a four-game losing streak and began the first 7 games with a record of 1 win and 6 losses. They are struggling again at the beginning of the season for two consecutive years. Last year, Lotte faced difficulties at the start of the season but managed to set up the team. They brought infielder Son Ho-young through a trade with LG to strengthen their weak infield depth, and Na Seung-yeop, Ko Seung-min, Yoon Dong-hee, and Hwang Seong-bin have all rapidly developed to stabilize the team.

This year, the lineup and the pitching staff have gained some strength. The five players previously mentioned have become the core of the team known as 'Yoon Go Na Hwang Son.' Manager Kim Tae-hyung reflected on last year, stating, "In fact, I couldn't calculate from the spring training games." However, the situation has changed significantly this year. He has a clearer understanding of the team from last year and has built the elite lineup and pitching staff based on that foundation. Young pitchers like Park Jin, Park Jun-woo, Jung Hyun-soo, and Song Jae-young are showing promising signs of growth.

However, there are no places for the FA players that Lotte aggressively recruited in the list envisioned by Manager Kim Tae-hyung. After the 2022 season, Lotte recruited catcher Yoo Kang-nam (4 years, 8 billion won), infielder Noh Jin-hyeok (4 years, 5 billion won), and pitcher Han Hyun-hee (3+1 years, 4 billion won) from the FA market. Ahead of the 2024 season, they brought infielder Kim Min-seong through a sign-and-trade to strengthen the infield, under the conditions of a total of 900 million won over 2+1 years. Among the four recently acquired FA players, three, excluding catcher Yoo Kang-nam, are absent from the 2025 opening roster.

Noh Jin-hyeok and Kim Min-seong began the season at the second team's spring camp, not the first team, and they did not receive any opportunities in the exhibition games. Han Hyun-hee completed the first team’s spring camp but was ultimately excluded from the opening roster.

On the 22nd, Han Hyun-hee started in a second team game against Sangmu, struggling with 2 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs. He left a disappointing impression from practice games during spring camp and exhibition games, and did not make the opening roster, failing to bounce back in the first game of the second team. Noh Jin-hyeok has vanished even in the second team, having yet to play in a single game. The only positive is that Kim Min-seong performed well, going 3-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored against Sangmu on the 22nd. He has a batting average of .462 (6 hits in 13 at-bats) with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.742 in 5 second team games.

The fact that they are remaining in the second team can be seen as a sign that Lotte's depth has strengthened. However, as FA players, it means they are supposed to be immediately useful in the first team. Yet, their presence in the second team itself also serves as evidence of Lotte's investment failure. The total salary they receive this year is 1.9 billion won (10 billion won for Han Hyun-hee, 700 million won for Noh Jin-hyeok, and 200 million won for Kim Min-seong).

Of course, there will come a time when they will be needed. However, whether they can be a support now is uncertain. If the existing players continue to struggle, there is a high likelihood of experiencing a month not much different from the beginning of last year. An atmosphere needs to be revitalized, but at this point, excluding Kim Min-seong, it is hard to gauge whether they can contribute to the first team. Even Kim Min-seong has not received a chance in the first team since June of last year.

Although it may seem like an overreaction with only 2 games played, early momentum is crucial for Lotte, which has failed to qualify for postseason play for 7 consecutive years. Considering that they struggled at the beginning of last season and were eliminated early from the top five competition, every moment is undoubtedly important.

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