The Lotte Giants aims to change the mood. It lost all six games last week (Sept. 9-14), falling to the bottom of the standings. The team changed its entry into the main league on Tuesday. Pitcher Yoo Kang-nam, pitcher Park Jin-hyung and infielder Jung Dae-sun were removed. Pitchers Shin Jung-rak, Choi Lee-joon and catcher Seo Dong-wook came up instead.
The most notable part is Yoo Kang-nam. He signed a free agent contract with Lotte for four years and 8 billion won (approx. He was selected as the right person to handle Lotte’s long-standing home turf struggles. In his second year as a transfer player, the bat seems heavy. He only posted a batting average of 0.122 (five hits in 41 times at bat) in 17 games. To make matters worse, he seemed to have become confused as the mound was shaken. “I think Yoo Kang-nam is having a hard time. I think I need to calm myself down and come up,” Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said. “As a catcher, I must have had a lot of things to pay attention to.” 안전놀이터
The game against Kiwoom in Gocheok on Thursday was critical. It was the top of the sixth inning when the game was losing 2-7. He had a chance to complete the bases loaded with one out. Yoo Kang-nam had a three-ball count in his favor against the changed pitcher Kim Jae-woong. He swung the bat at a fastball of 139 kilometers for the fourth pitch. Unfortunately, it led to a double play of shortstop. Yoo was replaced by Information Geun. The footage also showed manager Kim Tae-hyung talking to Yoo Kang-nam and his third base coach Ko Young-min. “(Yoo) Kang-nam seems to have confirmed the cause of death,” Kim said. “Regardless of the cause of death, the score gap was huge. If it was three balls, of course, I had to wait for one.”