There are 86 foreign pitchers, one run in five innings, but you're taking it out? Davison is not Ponce. Kim Tae-hyung chose reality
Jul 20, 2025
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Manager Kim Tae-hyung's realistic management plan for Lotte Giants foreign pitcher Tucker Davidson.
Davison started in an away game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 19th and led the team to a 6-1 victory with five hits, two walks and five strikeouts and one run in five innings.
He overcame the early crisis with two outs in the bottom of the first inning and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, and allowed Moon Sung-joo a double to the left-center in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out and a runner on the first base with a 3-0 lead, and later, he was on the verge of a two-out third base, but did not score additional runs.
He could have taken the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning with 86 pitches by the fifth inning, but manager Kim Tae-hyung put in Jung Chul-won, a must-win team, from the bottom of the sixth inning.
Jung Chul-won gave one hit and no run in one ⅓, Hong Min-ki gave one hit and no run in one inning, and Kim Kang-hyun gave no hit in one ⅔, preventing three bullpen pitchers from remaining four innings, resulting in a 6-1 victory and reducing the gap between second-place LG to one game again.
As Alec Gamboa, who has replaced Charlie Barnes, threw more than six innings with a fastball of more than 155km, Davison's innings ability grew.
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However, he raised concerns in June due to his sluggish performance with three losses and a 7.71 ERA in four games. As the number of pitches increased, he often showed a sudden collapse, throwing anxiety.
In the game on the 19th, manager Kim also chose to put in the bullpen when there was no runner rather than replacing him in the middle of the sixth inning.
Coach Kim said on the 20th that "Davidson always didn't pass that period well" and added, "I lost some strength in the ball and I wasn't mentally strong…," he said, explaining why he chose to replace it.
Foreign pitchers have to drag about six innings so that bullpen pitchers will not be overloaded when domestic pitchers take the mound, but manager Kim seems to be satisfied with Davison throwing well even if he doesn't throw long.
Manager Kim said, `You can't compare yourself to the first and second good pitchers of other teams. He is just a pitcher who plays his role regularly. It'd be nice if you could drag him over, but when it collapses, it collapses completely. Yesterday, I was thinking about throwing it in the sixth inning, but I replaced it because I thought I would be busy putting it in the middle." Realistically, he hinted that he is using Davidson in a way that his team can win.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.