The Lotte Giants, who filled three of the starting pitchers with left-handers, have yet to find a reliable left-hander in the bullpen.메이저사이트

Lotte completed the formation of foreigners in the 2025 season by renewing its contract with Charlie Barnes on the 13th and announcing the recruitment of a new foreign pitcher, Tucker Davidson. If Kim Jin-wook, who recently canceled his enlistment in Sangmu and is preparing for next season, settles in the starting rotation without difficulty, three starting pitchers are already left-handers.

Barnes, who will stay with Lotte for four years until next year, is the ace of the team. He has recorded 32 wins and 28 losses with an earned run average of 3.42 in 86 games so far this year. Excluding this year when he was out due to injury, he recorded double-digit wins (12 wins and 11 wins) for the second consecutive year. He started 25 games due to his adductor injury in the middle of this season, failing to achieve 10 wins for the third consecutive year, but continued to serve as the team's ace by recording quality starts in 10 out of 14 games since his return.

Davidson has played in 142 games (98 starts) and more than 600 innings in the Minor League, boasting a steady career with 30 wins and 44 losses and an ERA of 3.22. Kim Jin-wook has also joined the starting rotation since May this year, showing a more stable performance than before with four wins and three losses and an ERA of 5.31 in 19 games.

The problem is the left-handed bullpen. Jin Hae-soo is the left-handed pitcher who pitched as relief pitcher the most at Lotte this season. He posted an earned run average of 6.18 in 27 ⅔ innings in 54 relief appearances. Lim, who pitched the next most, posted an earned run average of 7.94 in 11 ⅓ innings in 24 games, and was put on the release list after the season.

What's worse is that there have been no young players who can support them throughout the season. Song Jae-young, a left-hander who played in 19 games as a relief pitcher this year, recorded an ERA of 10.80 in eight ⅓ innings. Chung, who has shown good performance with an ERA of 3.86 in 14 games as a bullpen pitcher, is expected to enter the starting lineup next year. Shim Jae-min, who is on break this year due to injury after the 2023 season, is also likely to join the starting lineup first.

Lotte's ERA in the left-handed bullpen was 6.90 this year, the lowest in the league. The ERA was more than two times higher than that of the Doosan Bears (4.63), who ranked first in the same category. The left-handed bullpen session lasted 60 innings, the lowest after KT Wiz (38 ⅓ innings). In other words, the left-handed bullpen session failed to function properly.

Jin Hae-soo, the left-handed bullpen pitcher who threw the most innings this year, is unlikely to rebound to age 39 next year. Young left-handed pitchers such as Song Jae-young and Hong Min-ki are also seeing their growth rate fall short of expectations. After all, either Chung or Shim Jae-min, who was pushed out of the starting lineup, has to play in the bullpen, or Kim Tae-hyun, the first-rounder of the rookie draft, can quickly become the first team player.

Lotte, which pressed the must-win group Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min in the stove league, supplied Jeong Cheol-won through trade, and reinforced the back door, is deeply concerned about the left-hander bullpen problem.