The Lotte Giants, who were unable to advance to the postseason, will play the remaining four games without foreign players.
Lotte deleted Charlie Barnes, Aaron Wilkerson, Nico Goodrum, and Park Se-woong from the first-team entry ahead of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League match against the KIA Tigers held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 12th.
Lotte, which remains in 7th place with 67 wins and 73 losses, is 6 games behind the 5th place Doosan Bears (71 wins, 2 draws and 65 losses). Regardless of the results of the remaining four games, they failed to advance to the postseason.
This season, they spent April in first place, raising expectations, but they fell into a sharp slump after June, and ultimately were unable to play fall baseball for six consecutive years since 2018.
Ultimately, Lotte plans to finish the season without foreign players due to this entry change. The three foreign musketeers of the Giant Legion, who ended the season, had mixed emotions.
Barnes, who was the only player to play through the season메이저사이트 without being replaced, appeared in 30 games and recorded 11 wins, 10 losses, 147 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.28.
It is a disappointing report card considering that his total worth is $1.25 million and that he played the role of ‘ace’. He was also at risk of being kicked out due to extreme ups and downs at the beginning of the season. Fortunately, he showed much improvement in the second half, with an ERA of 2.05.
Wilkerson, who joined in the second half as Dan Straley’s replacement, did his part. Wilkerson, who pitched in 13 games, performed better than expected with 7 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 2.26.
As of the day Wilkerson made his KBO League debut, he pitched at the top of the league, ranking second in strikeouts, tied for third in wins, and fifth in earned run average.
The recruitment of foreign hitter Goodrum during the season was a complete failure. It seemed like he would be used a lot as an infield utility player and switch hitter, but Goodrum appeared in 50 games and recorded a batting average of .295, 28 RBIs, and 16 runs. He had zero home runs and 13 errors. His contribution to the team also decreased due to hamstring pain.
Meanwhile, Park Se-woong, who contributed to winning the baseball gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, pitched once after returning to Lotte. Park Se-woong started against the Doosan Bears on the 11th, allowed 3 runs in 6 innings, and ended the season with his 9th win (7 losses) of the season.
Lotte, which removed four players from the first-team roster, added right-handed pitcher Choi Lee-jun to the first-team squad. Lee Jun Choi appeared in 26 games this year and recorded 1 win, 1 hold, and an ERA of 7.00.
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