Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?

May 12, 2025

Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants



Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?
Lotte-Kium match held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 29th. Jeon Jun-woo is happy after hitting a double with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Gocheok = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.4.29/
Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?
Lotte Jung Chul-won is pitching hard in the bottom of the 8th inning of the game between Lotte and NC at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 11th. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.11/
'Absolute 1st round' KIA sank to the bottom, and LG-Hanwha-Lotte '3rd round' structure? Who would have believed the prediction before the season.

Although it is slightly hidden by the eagle's emergency, the colorful wing of the seagull is also difficult. He flew high with Hanwha with 16 wins and 8 losses in April, and is ranked third after Hanwha-NC with 6 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses in May.

Following last year when he ranked second in the team's batting average and second in the on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), the team's batting average and third in the OPS this year are the core of this rise.




But that alone is difficult to explain easily. The starting ERA is in the middle at fifth place, but this is largely dependent on Park Se-woong and Davidson, who are in a career high season. Ace Barnes left due to injury after a sluggish performance, and other starters, such as Kim Jin-wook, Na Kyun-an, Park Jin-suk, and Lee Min-seok, have jagged ups and downs or still have question marks.

The bullpen is close to manager Kim Tae-hyung's 'Magic Show'. He ranks fourth overall in ERA. Except for closer Kim Won-joong, who has been reborn as an iron wall this season, and Jeong Chul-won, who has only a 5.40 ERA but is actually the only must-win team, he seems to be doing a 'spinning' with players with low-year experience or close to obscurity, such as Chung Hyun-soo, Kim Kang-hyun, Song Jae-young and Park Jin.

Kim Sang-soo also has a lot of contributions that are not included in the record of 6.64 ERA. Park Joon-woo at the beginning of the season and Park Si-young recently played their part, and now Han Hyun-hee has to show her presence.




Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?
Lotte Jung Hyun-soo is pitching hard in a game between Lotte and Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 27th. Jamsil= Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.27/
This kind of tightrope walking is still successful. However, head coach Kim Tae-hyung himself has a lot of anxiety. This is why he has repeatedly emphasized the need for a bullpen that throws a fastball of at least 145 kilometers from the first starter to replace Barnes since the spring cap.

On top of that, he even threw an injury nightmare. Along with Barnes, leadoff Hwang Sung-bin was also diagnosed with a finger fracture at the base of the base, confirming his departure for more than eight weeks. The main shortstop also fell out after Jeon Min-jae and Lee Ho-joon were hit by a 'head shot' dune.

The return of the injured is expected to be a battle for Lotte, which continues its difficult victory.




First of all, Choi Jun-yong, who has been waiting for everything, is slowly raising his sense of the real game. He took the mound in the third-tier game against Korea-Japan Jangshin University and pitched well with one hit and no runs in two innings. The maximum 149km fastball is impressive, and he is also using a change-up that he has been grinding for a long time along with the slider.

Four and a half games apart from the 4th place! Busan Seagull's close tightrope walking → The third round before long? Will the injured return to the game?
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
On the same day, Jung Sung-jong also took the mound as a starter and played three innings. As expected, the maximum 147km fastball and 146km of determination are impressive.

Jeon Min-jae, who started technical training at Futures over the weekend, is also close to returning. Jeon Min-jae will return to the first team after building his sense of practice in the Futures game.

In the case of Lee Ho-joon, he breathed a sigh of relief as he was diagnosed 'Nothing abnormal' in a detailed diagnosis. Coach Kim Tae-hyung hopes that both players will not have any sand dune trauma.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.