The fearlessness displayed in the latter half of last year has vanished. Within a year, they are reliving the nightmare of the early part of last year. The reset batting lineup has become ineffective, and anyone stepping to the plate is gripped by fear.
On the 27th, Lotte suffered a comeback loss against the SSG Landers in a game held at Incheon SSG Landers Field, with a score of 2-5. This means that Lotte finished their first five games of the season with a record of 1 win and 4 losses and returned home to Sajik Baseball Stadium.
The batting lineup, which had been silent in the previous four games, was again ineffective this day. Taking advantage of SSG’s starting pitcher Park Jong-hun’s control issues, Yoon Dong-hee and Jeong Hun walked consecutively in the first inning, creating a chance with no outs on first and second base. However, Na Seung-yeop, RAY, and Jeon Joon-woo, in the heart of the lineup, all made outs.
In the second inning, leadoff hitter Son Ho-young reached base on a hit by pitch, but no subsequent hits followed. In the third inning, Yoon Dong-hee and Jeong Hun walked consecutively to create another chance on first and second with no outs. Na Seung-yeop’s ground ball resulted in a fielder’s choice, putting runners on second and third with one out, and RAY’s sacrifice fly scored the first run. However, in the continued situation with two outs and runners on second and third, Jeon Joon-woo made an out on a pop-up to the third baseman, missing the chance to add more runs. In the fourth inning, after one out, Park Seung-wook was hit by a pitch and a stolen base created a chance with one out on second base. After Jeon Min-jae struck out, Jeong Bo-gun hit a clutch single to make it 2-0. However, in the ensuing opportunity with two outs and runners on first and second due to Yoon Dong-hee’s walk, Jeong Hun struck out and failed to score.
Although they took a 2-0 lead, they had already left six runners on base. Ultimately, Lotte, unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities, allowed SSG to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Na Gyun-an was perfect through three innings, but SSG’s focus was strikingly different from Lotte’s.
After that, the Lotte batting lineup was stifled by SSG’s second pitcher Kim Geon-woo. They struggled to hit, and after two outs in the fourth inning, Jeong Hun led off a stretch of 10 consecutive outs. In the eighth inning, leadoff hitter Na Seung-yeop reached first base after getting hit by a pitch, but RAY grounded into a double play. In the ninth inning, after one out, Han Tae-yang walked and substitute Yoo Gang-nam hit a single to right field, but they also failed to capitalize on the opportunity, leaving seven runners on base.
Looking at the performance since the start of the season, the silence of that day is not surprising. They scored 2 points, 2 points, 3 points, 1 point, and 2 points in the first five games. A total of 10 points in five games averages just 2 points per game. Currently, Lotte’s batting lineup is close to the worst in the league. Their team batting average is .201, and their OPS is .523, both ranking ninth. They have yet to hit a home run, uniquely failing in that area among all ten teams. Instead, they lead the league with 10 double plays. With players that should deliver not doing so, the batting lineup has become ineffective. They are reproducing the struggle with batting that they experienced last year, a nightmare from a year ago is resurfacing. The core of Lotte, including ‘Yoon Go-na-hwang’, remains consistently silent. Ko Seung-min has only one hit in 11 at-bats and is out of the first team roster due to an abdominal muscle injury. Yoon Dong-hee’s batting average is .200 (3 hits in 15 at-bats), Na Seung-yeop’s is .158 (3 hits in 19 at-bats), and Hwang Seong-bin’s is .182 (2 hits in 11 at-bats), all falling into a collective silence.
Son Ho-young, who awakened the stagnant batting lineup at the beginning of last year’s season and is facing his first full-time season with Lotte, has also started poorly, with a batting average of .211 (4 hits in 19 at-bats). He has at least recorded 3 RBIs. Veteran Jeon Joon-woo is also struggling with a batting average of .188 (3 hits in 16 at-bats), having set a new record with ’202 hits' last year, and RAY, who supported the batting lineup heavily last year, is currently silent with a batting average of .211 (4 hits in 19 at-bats).
Manager Kim Tae-hyung’s concerns deepen, and frustration can only grow. “The batting lineup was also not good last year. Yoon, Na, and Ko all underperformed at the start and were sent down to the second team. This year, they are still struggling to find their timing and are uncertain. They are not players with that level of skill, yet they still lack career experience. Beyond skill, they are lacking in reading the flow of the game and knowing how to compete,” said manager Kim Tae-hyung. Lotte’s batting lineup, which felt nostalgic about the ‘no fear’ baseball after overcoming a severe slump at the start of the season, started poorly but later undertook a massive rebuilding of the lineup. This adventurous choice turned into success, transforming them into one of the league’s best batting lineups. They currently rank second with a batting average of .285, first in doubles with 285, and second in OPS.
However, the batting lineup has reset to the early part of last year’s season within a year. The once fearless, bold swings have become unbearably dull. Instead of ‘no fear’, a growing fear of not producing results has emerged.
From the 28th, Lotte will face KT Wiz in a three-game home opener series. Can Lotte turn things around in the home opener series?
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