▲ Lotte’s lineup, which has shown almost no signs of waking up this season ⓒ Kwak Hye-mi
[SPOTV News = Reporter Kim Tae-woo] The Lotte Giants, who generated optimism after a strong spring training and an encouraging opening series, laid bare their fundamental weaknesses and suffered the embarrassment of a shutout. Beyond the opposing starter’s dominant outing, the persistence of Lotte’s offensive slump is increasingly alarming.
On April 24 at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Lotte fell 4-0 to the KIA Tigers as Adam Oller threw a complete-game shutout. The Giants managed just three hits over nine innings and were thoroughly stifled. While Oller was excellent, Lotte’s inability to score through nine innings highlighted how deep their hitting problems run.
Oller — who has drawn attention from MLB clubs after a clear improvement over last year — was sharp again. His four-seam and two-seam fastballs topped 150 km/h (about 93 mph) and had heavy movement. He also mixed a slider, curve and slurve to keep Lotte’s hitters off balance.
Lotte was bottled up from the start. In the first inning Han Tae-yang and Noh Jin-hyeok struck out, and Reyes — the team’s hottest hitter at the time — popped out to first. In the second inning Han Dong-hee, Jeon Jun-woo and Yoo Kang-nam were all retired on balls in play, and in the third Shin Yun-ho and Son Seong-bin struck out back-to-back. After two outs, Jeon Min-jae singled to center for the team’s first hit, but Han Tae-yang grounded out to third and the rally fizzled.
▲ Beasley pitched seven innings and allowed two runs in the April 24 game against KIA in Gwangju but took the loss after receiving no run support ⓒ Kwak Hye-mi
On the mound for Lotte, Beasley matched Oller with power and kept the game scoreless through four innings. Lotte finally threatened in the fifth: leadoff hitter Jeon Jun-woo smoked a single to left, and Yoo Kang-nam worked a patient at-bat and drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.
The bench called for a sacrifice bunt from Shin Yun-ho. Beasley had been effective, the game looked like it would stay tight, and Shin didn’t present as a high-probability extra-base threat against Oller — so the decision to play for one run made sense in context.
But Shin couldn’t execute. His bunt rolled directly to Oller, who fielded it cleanly. Both runners scrambled back to their bags; the first-base runner nearly got doubled off. The play gave Oller a breather, and a deflated Lotte lineup then saw Son Seong-bin and Jeon Min-jae fly out to right, leaving them scoreless. That sequence ended up being Lotte’s best scoring opportunity of the game.
Beasley, who had been pitching well, gave up two runs in the seventh and received no offensive support. Lotte went down in order in the eighth and never found an answer. Oller completed nine innings on 103 pitches, allowing three hits, issuing two walks and striking out 11 for the shutout.
▲ Han Dong-hee, who has so far failed to meet expectations as a home run threat this season ⓒ Kwak Hye-mi
Meanwhile, at Gocheok, Kiwoom beat Samsung and Lotte slipped back to last place in the standings. As of April 23, Lotte’s team batting average sits at .250 — eighth in the league and below the .261 league average. Their chronic power issues remain unresolved: the team OPS is just .684, with only Kiwoom posting a worse mark. With core hitters struggling or underperforming, even Go Seung-min and Na Seung-yeop — both serving 30-game suspensions for visiting illegal gambling venues during spring camp — find themselves in an awkward position.
The suspensions are set to end soon, and Lotte will have to decide when to reintegrate the two players. Given the controversy, the club is likely to be cautious about timing, but the team’s dire situation could push management toward an earlier return. Manager Kim Tae-hyung, in the final year of his contract, is facing the toughest stretch of his tenure.
▲ Manager Kim Tae-hyung faces the biggest crisis of his final contract year at Lotte ⓒ Kwak Hye-min
