Is it because of the bullpen of the ‘giant corps’ that eventually collapsed except for Lee Min-seok and Kim Won-joong? The rookie’s good fight in the 6th round looks even more impressive.
The Lotte Giants suffered a 10-12 come-from-behind defeat at the end of the 11th overtime in the opening game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season against the Doosan Bears held at Jamsil Stadium on the 1st. An unfortunate loss that failed to keep the lead by 5 points.
Excluding Han Dong-hee, who was sluggish with no hits in 7 at-bats, including 14 hits and 10 walks, the power of Lotte’s batting line was clearly strong. But did they say that baseball is a pitcher’s game? On this day, the Lotte mound collapsed by giving up 12 points. In particular, he allowed 9 points from the bullpen. 먹튀검증
Among Lotte bullpen pitchers who pitched after the 6th inning, Min-seok Lee and Won-joong Kim are the only ones who finished the inning without conceding a run. Five pitchers gave up runs. Key bullpens Kim Do-gyu and Koo Seung-min were also brought out, but the result was the same. Moon Kyung-chan, who replaced Kim Won-joong in the 11th inning, bowed his head as he hit a series of hits, hits, and walk-off home runs.
Is that why? Looking back at the first inning of Lee Tae-yeon, a rookie left-hander who came to the mound after starting pitcher Dan Straley, looks amazing. Even though it was an 8-3 lead, the fact that a newcomer playing his debut game in Jamsil filled with 23,750 people gave his ball to his heart showed that he had great courage and guts.
Lee Tae-yeon is a new player this year who was nominated by Lotte as the 3rd pick (53rd overall) in the 6th round of the 2023 KBO draft. In Lotte, where the left-handed bullpen is so lacking, he received a lot of expectations and got many opportunities even though he was a rookie in the 6th round. The internal evaluation was good enough that he participated in the spring camp with Kim Min-seok.
And it produced results. In this year’s exhibition game, he appeared in 7 games and faced 18 batters, getting only 1 hit. he had no flaws. He allowed two walks but also struck out two.
He was also named in the opening game roster. He was the only left-handed bullpen. “It was hard to believe at first,” he said shortly after being included on the spring camp roster. He laughed, saying, “I was very surprised,” but now he is the team’s only left-handed pitcher in the opening game of the regular season.
The opportunity came quickly. Starting pitcher Dan Strayley was replaced after the fifth inning. Lotte Bench pulled out the ‘Lee Tae-yeon Card’ against Doosan’s center lineup leading to Kim Jae-hwan, Yang Eui-ji, and Kang Seung-ho. Even if the score difference was large, it was a pretty bold choice. And the choice was a great success.
Lee Tae-yeon caught the count with a 145km fastball in the game against first batter Kim Jae-hwan, then struck out on a swing with a slider. Afterwards, Yang Eui-ji was driven to 3-0, but in the end it was treated as a fly ball, and the last batter, Kang Seung-ho, also struck out on a swing like Kim Jae-hwan with a slider and finished with no runs.
A mid-140km fastball and a sharp slider, but Lee Tae-yeon’s strength is that he never avoided a game. It is certainly unusual for a rookie pitcher to play head-to-head with his ball in front of a packed crowd in Jamsil.
In Lotte, where the atmosphere was not good due to Seo Jun-won’s departure, the surprise performance of a newcomer like Lee Tae-yeon is like rain falling in a drought. Of course, it is worth looking back that Lotte’s bullpen, excluding Lee Tae-yeon, Lee Min-seok, and Kim Won-joong, was annihilated and surrendered a come-from-behind defeat in the opening game. Nevertheless, it is clear that Lee Tae-yeon relieved the worries of the left-handed bullpen, which was a concern because there were almost no shortages.