Is this year's slump because of ABS? Will the changed S Zone be a welcome gift to Lotte, a folk ball master?

Dec 18, 2024

photo courtesy of Lotte Giants

Lotte Giants are famous for the team with a lot of 'folk ball masters'. Will it be a good thing for Lotte in the strike zone that will change in 2025.

Since when was Lotte called 'Forkball Holy Land'. Baseball sees 2009 as the turning point when Cho Jung-hoon (current coach of Masan Yongmago) won the most wins.

Cho Jung-hoon's 2009 is 'Drama' itself. Until 2008, Cho was a promising player with the ability to catch up. He took the mound as a substitute starter and won a shutout, and joined the starting lineup in the second half of the year, boasting potential with 5 wins and 3 losses and a 3.15 ERA.

The following year, Cho Jung-hoon became a completely different pitcher. He started 27 games, won 14 wins, lost 9 losses, and earned the honor of the most wins (joint with Samsung Yoon Sung-hwan and KIA Lopez) with a 4.05 ERA. In particular, strikeouts (2nd and 1st place Ryu Hyun-jin), which more than tripled from 54 to 175, were impressive. He won the Understanding Best Pitcher Award and put Lotte on the fall baseball league.

Since then, the number of pitchers throwing folk balls in the team has increased rapidly, and the tradition has continued to this day.

Lotte Cho Jung-hoon during his time as King DaSeung. Sports Chosun DB

Park Se-woong used to use folk balls a lot in the past, but recently, he has increased the proportion of curves and sliders rather than folk balls. Still, he uses folk balls at a rate of around 10% every game.

Since last year, a new folk ball powerhouse has emerged. Last year, coach Cho Jung-hoon picked Na Kyun-an as the best forkball pitcher in the current league. When he changed from catcher to pitcher, Na Kyun-an drew attention for his stable ball control and various breaking balls. In particular, the proportion of sliders was high. On the other hand, since he started in earnest last year, he has raised the ratio of folk balls to close to one-on-one, and has emerged as a high-quality starting pitcher.

But this year, he fell into an endless slump. As his fastball pitching dropped and his control was shaken, he fell to an 8.51 ERA. Next year, Kim Jin-wook, Chung Hyun-soo, and Park Jin are competing for the starting spot.

롯데 나균안. Sports Chosun DB

Kim Sang-soo, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong, who formed the core of Lotte's bullpen this year, are all pitchers whose main weapon is folk ball. In particular, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong often threw more folk balls than fastballs. They are veterans who supported Lotte's bullpen, which collapsed this year, but all three players' performances fell from last year. In particular, Koo Seung-min's slump was serious, and closing pitcher Kim Won-joong also suffered a nightmare of failing to save for five consecutive games in July.

In addition, Jung Cheol-won was acquired from Doosan in a two-to-three trade that included Kim Min-seok in a post-season trade. Jung Cheol-won is a pitcher with an overwhelming fastball ratio, but also throws a fork ball at the first breaking ball. In other words, the proportion of fastball and forkball pitchers in the Lotte bullpen has increased.

The ABS (automatic ball determination system) strike zone, which was first introduced around the world in the KBO League this season, was evaluated as 'too high'. In particular, players and coaches often complained because of the left and right high zones corresponding to the vertex of the square. On the other hand, pitchers who used to use breaking balls and low zones as their main weapons like KT Ko Young-pyo also suffered overall losses.

Jeong Cheol-won for the interview. Reporter Kim Young-rok

Reflecting this feedback, the KBO Executive Committee decided to compare and analyze the ABS zone this season and lower the zone by 0.6 points starting next season. There is no other size change such as the middle, end, and left and right width of the zone. KBO explained "For 1m80 players, the zone will move 1cm below (compared to this year)." It is a positive change for Lotte, where folk bowlers form the core of its power.

Lotte caught both internal FA this winter, re-signing Victor Reyes-Charlie Barnes and signing new foreign Tucker Davidson to complete the formation of foreign players. Will he be able to make it to the fall baseball league for the first time in eight years next year. The mind is already waiting for spring.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.