"It is not the time to change anyone on purpose. We will go as we are now."
The Lotte Giants' envisioned bullpen shutdown group this year did not settle in properly. Left-hander Hong Min-ki and right-hander Yoon Seong-bin, two fireballers, were the core.
Kim Tae-hyoung envisioned Hong Min-ki, who last year threw a strong fastball that reached a top speed of 156 km, overpowering left-handed hitters, and Yoon Seong-bin, who threw a top-speed 160 km fastball, becoming the core shutdown relievers. However, the plan did not go smoothly from spring camp.
Hong Min-ki experienced trial-and-error while adjusting his pitching form and had to take a short break during the exhibition games because of neck disc pain. Yoon Seong-bin also did not reach last year's velocity. Practicing his slider to improve ended up backfiring. His velocity did not come as hoped, and the control of his forkball, which seemed poised to become a decisive pitch, was hard to find.
Yoon Seong-bin appeared in three games, pitching 2 1/3 innings with four hits, four walks and five runs allowed, an earned run average of 19.29, and was sent down to the second team on April 13. Hong Min-ki has not been called up to the first team even once and is honing his skills in the second team.
Both pitchers are currently inconsistent. It cannot be said they have reached a stable trajectory. Still, in the futures league game against the Hanwha Eagles at Gimhae Sangdong Stadium on the 8th, both pitchers produced meaningful results.
Hong Min-ki entered in the fourth as the second pitcher after starter Park Jun-woo (3 innings, 2 runs) and threw 24 pitches in one inning, recording three walks, two strikeouts and no runs. He allowed a walk to leadoff hitter Han Kyung-bin. He then struck out Choi Yun-ho and Choi Min-gyu in succession. But he walked Choi Yu-bin and Choi In-ho back-to-back, creating a bases-loaded, two-out jam himself. He did not collapse and handled the inning well.
Yoon Seong-bin entered as the closer in the ninth with a 7-5 lead and recorded a save with one inning, one strikeout and no runs, retiring the side in order. He struck out leadoff batter Choi Yun-ho, induced a third-base groundout from Kim Joon-soo and turned Choi Yu-bin into a center-field fly to finish the game. It was Yoon Seong-bin's first futures league save this year. With Lotte's win, the second pitcher Hong Min-ki was credited with the victory.
There was meaning to be found in the result, but the content itself was not satisfactory. First, neither pitcher threw their best pitches. Yoon Seong-bin recorded a top speed of 150 km and an average of 148 km. He threw six fastballs and two forkballs. He had six strikes and two balls.
Hong Min-ki threw 24 pitches with a fastball top speed of 148 km and an average speed of 146 km. Above all, Hong Min-ki threw 15 balls and only nine strikes. Of the 17 fastballs he threw, only six were strikes.
It is natural that the two pitchers would be an asset if they were on the first team. But they are not at their best right now and the first-team bullpen has already been established. Choi Jun-Yong, Kim Won-jung, Jeong Cheol-won, rookie Park Jeong-min are the shutdown group that can be seen as fixtures in the first-team bullpen. Hyun Do-hoon, Choi I-jun, Jeong Hyeon-su and Goo Seung-min, who adjusted in the second team and were promoted, are already showing decent form in the first team. Yoon Seong-bin and Hong Min-ki are not in a position to force their way in at the moment.
Kim Tae-hyoung has received reports on the two pitchers but is still reluctant. He has no intention of changing the bullpen composition now. He said, "Yoon Seong-bin seems to have pitched fairly well recently, and Hong Min-ki also seemed a bit better in recent games," and added, "(The bullpen) will go as it is now. It is not the time to change anyone on purpose. Right now everyone is pitching very well."
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