Lotte is at a critical juncture in its fall baseball season.
As of the 20th, Lotte is in seventh place with 50 wins, 54 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.481. They are 1.5 games behind sixth-place KIA (48 wins, 2 ties, 49 losses) and fifth-place Doosan (50 wins, 1 tie, 51 losses).
Lotte had a mixed bag of performances last week. They earned a sweep in a three-game series against SSG at Sajik Stadium in Busan on April 15-17, then were swept by 10th-ranked Kiwoom after moving to Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 18-20.
With 40 games left in the regular season, Lotte now faces a series of matchups against teams at the top of the standings. They need to survive a tough week to get closer to fall baseball. With only 4.5 games separating them from eighth-place Hanwha, they could easily slip down the standings.
Lotte starts a three-game series against LG at Jamsil Stadium on the 22nd. LG will be looking to solidify their position atop the standings as quickly as possible in order to qualify for the Korean Series. The gap to second-place KT is seven games, but KT has been on a roll lately. KT is 14-3 in August with a winning percentage of 0.824, the highest winning percentage in the league over the same period. LG will also need to focus on their three-game series against Lotte.
Lotte has been evenly matched against LG this season. The head-to-head record is almost identical at 5 wins and 6 losses. The first day of the three-game series against LG will feature a ‘must-win’ card. Aaron Wilkerson, who replaced Dan Straily with Lotte, will start the three-game series.
Since making his debut in late July, Wilkerson has gone 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in five games. Lotte has a 100 percent winning percentage in his starts. Wilkerson will be facing LG for the first time, so he can use unfamiliarity as a weapon.
In addition, another foreign pitcher, Charlie Barnes, will be available for the three-game series against LG, so Lotte will have to go all out. However, heavy rain is expected to fall in the central region of Korea on the 22nd and 23rd, and there is a small chance that the games will be canceled, so Lotte will have to be careful with their rotation.
After the three-game series against LG, Lotte will return home to face KT on the 25th.
Lotte has been particularly weak against KT this season. They’ve gone 3-9 and have struggled to make an impact. KT is the only team with a worse record against them. This is due to the fact that they have been unable to capitalize against KT’s starting lineup.스포츠토토
Lotte’s team batting average is a respectable 0.262, but it’s the lowest at 0.227 against KT’s mound. In particular, homegrown ace Ko Young-pyo has been labeled the “Lotte Killer. In four games against Lotte this season, he is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA. They will need to rely on the bat of Yoon Dong-hee, who has the only triple-digit batting average (.313) against KT.
Lotte will need to even up their record against KT in this three-game series to have any chance of winning the Fall League. A tough six-game series awaits Lotte.