This year's first QS → first win → frustrated just before the life game...Lotte 1R left-hander with a proper eye, this year is definitely different

Apr 08, 2025

This year's first QS → first win → frustrated just before the life game...Lotte 1R left-hander with a proper eye, this year is definitely different
Lotte Kim Jin-wook is leaving the mound at the top of the 6th inning in a game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 8th. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.08/



This year's first QS → first win → frustrated just before the life game...Lotte 1R left-hander with a proper eye, this year is definitely different
The game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 8th, Lotte Park Jin and Yoo Kang-nam's batteries with two outs in the top of the 6th inning, are regretful after giving up a two-run come-from-behind hit to KIA Byun Woo-hyuk. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.08/
This year is definitely different. Lotte Giants' Kim Jin-wook continued his impressive pitching in his third appearance this year.

Kim Jin-wook took the mound as a starter and allowed two hits, two walks and three runs in five ⅔ innings in Game 1 of the week series against the KIA Tigers at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 8th. It was good pitching with four strikeouts to No-Hitter until the fifth inning, but he couldn't overcome the first and final crisis.

Earlier, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung was cautious when he said 'Kim Jin-wook is definitely good this year' and 'Let's wait and see'




However, this year, Kim Jin-wook was reborn as a league-class starting pitcher by refining his existing fastballs, sliders, and knuckle curves to luxury levels, while also equipped with changeups he learned directly from Ryu Hyun-jin.

In the match against Incheon SSG Landers, which was his first appearance of the season on the 26th of last month, he started with a quality start (more than six innings and less than three earned runs) with two runs in six innings. In the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on the 2nd, he pitched well with two runs (one earned) in five ⅓ innings and won his first win of the season, continuing his upward trend.

Kim Jin-wook is a pitcher who has been given a lot of opportunities to start since his debut season in 2021. The ups and downs were the problem. On April 5, 2022, the match against Changwon NC Dinos (one run in seven innings), the match against the LG Twins in Jamsil on May 1 (six scoreless innings), and the match against the Busan Kiwoom Heroes on June 12, 2024 (one run in six ⅓ innings) are considered Kim Jin-wook's best games.




This year's first QS → first win → frustrated just before the life game...Lotte 1R left-hander with a proper eye, this year is definitely different
Lotte Kim Jin-wook smiles at left fielder Jeon Joon-woo, who caught a big hit by KIA Kim Tae-gun at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan with two outs and a runner on first base in the top of the fifth inning. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.08/
If the game had finished the sixth inning, it would have been Kim Jin-wook's career best. But it was one last step short. In the sixth inning, he handed over the mound to Park Jin with two outs and a full base, and Park Jin allowed a base hit following a walk, causing three runs in an instant.

In the top of the first inning, Park Chan-ho, Wizdom, and Na Sung-bum got off to a fresh start. He struck out Choi Hyung-woo in the top of the second inning, but Lotte Park Seung-wook's error came out when Lee Woo-sung grounded out to shortstop. Still, he didn't falter and made a good follow-up hit.

In the top of the third and fourth innings, three-way errors were made one after another. Sajik Stadium began to tremble little by little. In the top of the fifth inning, he gave up a walk to Choi Won-joon after two outs, but Kim Tae-gun's big hit was caught in front of the fence. He walked one and walked one without a hit until the fifth inning.




But the top of the sixth inning was a problem. Kim Jin-wook, who had 61 pitches until the 5th inning earlier, had 86 pitches when he went down without completing the 6th inning.

He struck out Kim Kyu-sung, the first batter, but gave up a walk to Park Chan-ho. He then allowed Wisdom to make his first hit on the day, with one out and runners on first and second bases.

This year's first QS → first win → frustrated just before the life game...Lotte 1R left-hander with a proper eye, this year is definitely different
The game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 8th, and Lotte Kim Jin-wook was replaced in the top of the 6th inning, smiling regretfully. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.08/
He caught Na Sung-bum with a fly ball to shortstop and breathed a sigh, but Choi Hyung-woo's hit penetrated the deepest part between the first and second bases. Kim Min-sung threw his whole body into his glove and made an infield hit.

Coach Kim Tae-hyung put down Kim Jin-wook and put in Park Jin-young after deep consideration. But as a result, it was a handshake. Park Jin-jin allowed a straight walk to Lee Woo-sung and a two-run timely hit to Byun Woo-hyuk, allowing a 2-3 come-from-behind turnaround. Kim Jin-wook's victory flew away, and his ERA rose sharply as he also changed his record to three runs in five ⅔ innings.

The combination of the maximum 145km fastball (34), slider (34), curve (14), and change-up (4) was also good. However, it was a shame to finish.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.