Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing

Jul 03, 2025

Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing
The game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 2nd. Lotte's Gamboa, who struck out LG Song Chan-ui with a 158-kilometer fastball with two outs and a runner on first base in the sixth inning, is delighted. Busan = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.02/



Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing
The game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 2nd. Lotte's Gamboa is pitching hard. Busan = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.02/
Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing
The game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 2nd. In the sixth inning, Lotte Gamboa is checking the first baseman with two outs and runners on first base. Busan = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.02/
In the second year of ABS (automatic ball determination system), Korean professional baseball is still the only country in the world to apply ABS in the first-team league.

And this can be a great advantage for the 'fireballers' who showed weakness in control over ball control. The representative player is Alec Gamboa, who has emerged as a foreign fortune of the Lotte Giants.

On the 2nd, Gamboa pitched six ⅔ innings, six hits and four outs, and achieved his sixth win of the season against the LG Twins in Busan. It is the sixth consecutive start. He suffered a triple steal in his first game since his debut in Korea due to his 'Folder Insa' routine, but it is his winning streak of six games after his routine modification. The ERA has already dropped to 2.11.




Gamboa wore the Los Angeles Dodgers uniform in the ninth round of the 2019 rookie draft and made his rookie league debut. After that, he played mostly in Triple-A from 2023 after going through Double-A.

The local evaluation of Gamboa when he was a minor in the Dodgers is a fireballer himself. He can throw a fastball close to 160km using an intense high kick, but he was criticized for not having stable control. Looking at the number of walks per 9 innings, it was 6.5 in Triple-A in 2023 and 4.8 in Double-A. It fell to 3.8 last year, but it is again 5.6 this year. In Korea, on the other hand, there are only 2.8.

Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing
The game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 2nd. Lotte Gamboa is catching her breath. Busan = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.02/
In the same vein, Gamboa's number of pitches per inning in the U.S. exceeded 17. However, there are around 16 in Korea.




It is highly likely that the strike zone decision was not good in the United States due to high kicks, unique pitching form thrown after beating the waist back, characteristics of hitting from high RBIs, strong up-and-down movements, quick arrests, and incisive breaking balls.

On the other hand, Korea checks strike-ball with ABS. No matter how the pitcher throws the ball or the catcher throws his whole body, it is a strike if he passes through the designated zone. From Gamboa's point of view, there is also an additional advantage of being able to make all-out throws with more confidence in the expectation that ABS will make a fair decision. It is not completely irrelevant that fire bowlers who throw fastballs over 155km, including Lee Min-seok, Hong Min-ki and Yoon Sung-bin, have stood out at Lotte this year.

Average 153km banging ABS optimization? 5.6 → 2.8 walks per 9 innings, reduced number of pitches...Lotte's lucky foreigners, going to Korea was a blessing
The game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 2nd. Lotte Gamboa is catching her breath. Busan = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.02/
In the match against LG, Gamboa threw a fastball of up to 158 kilometers. It is the highest personal arrest since joining Lotte.




According to baseball statistics site Statistics, Gamboa's average fastball speed this season is 152.8km. This is by far the top left-hander in professional baseball. It is more overwhelming than KT Wiz Heysus (149.1km) and Doosan Bears Colerbin (147.8km), which are similar types.

Although he throws curves and changeups, the fact that he is actually a fastball-slider two-pitch pitcher also adds more weight to Gamboa's pitching. This means that he is a pitcher who makes the most of the strength of fast-binding.

literally opening the era of success in Korea. "The first starter should have a commanding ballThe Lotte Giants' bold replacement of foreign pitchers, which looked beyond autumn baseball under manager Kim Tae-hyung's theory, has been a huge success so far. From Gamboa's point of view, going to Korea was a 'blessing' that informed her of her value that she did not even know.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.