Instead of 158km left-hander, 156km Lotte's lead in the arrest revolution! Fill the empty space for treasure foreigners → Prediction for selection against Doosan on the 8th
Jul 07, 2025
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Lotte Giants announced Hong Min-ki as the starting pitcher for Game 1 of the final series of the first half against the Doosan Bears on the 8th. He chose Hong Min-ki, who has a more powerful fastball, instead of Kim Jin-wook, who was mentioned as a starting pitcher before the opening.
It is an empty seat for Gamboa, a new foreign player who has won six consecutive starts. Gamboa showed good performance with a 2.11 ERA through repeated good pitching every game, but was canceled from the first team on the 3rd due to mild muscle clumping and arm fatigue
It is Gamboa, who has been running without any roughness with an average speed of 152.8km and a maximum speed of 158km. It has pioneered a new era of the highest arrest of left-hander in professional baseball history.
However, he has no long-term experience in racing, with 88 ⅓ innings (double A) in the 2022 season being the most in his life. Lotte decided to give Gamboa enough rest during the All-Star Game break.
The key was who to use for the vacant position. Lotte initially considered using three native starters, Lee Min-seok, Na Kyun-an, and Park Se-woong, as a four-day break.
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Coach Kim Tae-hyung, who met at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 6th, said, `I'm thinking about Kim Jin-wook now, but I haven't made a decision yet.'
Hong Min-ki is playing a swingman in the first team, and Yoon Sung-bin is playing a bullpen mission in the second team. In reality, the No. 1 alternative starter was Kim Jin-wook, who was used as a starting pitcher at the beginning of the season.
The problem was Kim Jin-wook's poor performance. He played in six games and 27 innings this season, suffering a serious slump of 1-3 with a 9.67 ERA.
It was easy in three games at the beginning of the season, but it collapsed after a series of difficulties with six runs and seven runs in one ⅓ inning. In the game against KT Wiz on June 12, when he returned as a starter after going back and forth between the second division and the bullpen, he collapsed with six runs in two innings.
On the other hand, Hong Min-ki, along with Lee Min-seok and Yoon Sung-bin, is a trio who leads the arrest revolution of Lotte's native pitchers. Initially, he was rarely seen in the first team enough to be dubbed cyber pitcher, but he was reborn as a completely different pitcher through the introduction of ABS (automatic ball determination system) and pitch form correction.
He throws an average of 150.2 kilometers and a maximum of 156 kilometers this season. Although he is not a cross-spier who throws a big step toward first base as before, he stands out for his rotational power of 1m85 with his arms and legs stretched out. It is a simple combination of a strong fastball and a slider that is as fast as that, but the power of the ball was not pushed back against the league's leading guns such as KT Wiz Ahn Hyun-min, Samsung Diaz, and KIA Choi Hyung-woo.
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Hong is making his second start this year. He allowed one run in four innings against Hanwha on June 18, his first challenge, and has been playing well as a multi-inning bullpen since then.
However, due to the recent appearance, he is expected to play the role of an opener for the bullpen day rather than a starter. It was his fourth appearance in July. In particular, it seems to have been well received that he appeared with one out in the eighth inning following Jeong Cheol-won, who did well in the first ⅔ against KIA, and neatly caught Choi Hyung-woo and Ko Jong-wook. Manager Kim Tae-hyung was also caught on camera looking at Hong Min-ki with a smile after the inning.
Hong Min-ki's opponent is Choi Min-seok of the Doosan Bears. He is a 19-year-old rookie pitcher who was ranked 16th overall in the second round this year, and Doosan's rising star who throws up to 152km fastballs at a tall height of 1m89. It's the first day of the Yeonggun clash.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
