Lotte is powerless against KT.
Lotte started Na Kyun-ahn, who was selected to the Hangzhou Asian Games baseball team, against KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, on April 21, but they were unable to get past KT.
Prior to this game, Na had pitched well in three starts against KT, going 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA. With three consecutive quality starts (6+ innings and 3 earned runs or less), it looked like he could break his losing streak against KT. However, Lotte self-destructed with three errors and fell to 0-5. With that, Lotte finished the season with a 3-13 record against KT, an absolute disadvantage.
But one player will never forget this game. It’s the story of Lotte’s Seok Sang-ho. The name Seok Sang-ho is unfamiliar to many baseball fans. That’s because this game was his first-team debut.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score 0-5, Seok came into relief and faced Alford, Jang Sung-woo, and Moon Sang-chul. When he took the mound, he was a bit nervous at first. But after taking a deep breath, he found his rhythm and pitched aggressively. While his fastball only topped out at 143 mph, he was aggressive with a steady delivery that poked all corners of the strike zone and a sharp slider in the mid-120 mph, and he ended the eighth inning with a triple play on just 11 pitches. In particular, he struck out Alford and Moon Sang-chul with a gutsy, uncharacteristic pitch for a rookie.
After Seok Sang-ho pitched a successful one-hit shutout in his professional debut, the Lotte players celebrated like it was their job. Yoon Dong-hee beamed, Hwang Sung-bin gave a thumbs-up and congratulated his teammate. And Ko Seung-min cheered for his junior by giving him the ball for his debut.
Seok Sang-ho, meanwhile, is a college-aged pitcher selected by Lotte in the seventh round (63rd overall) of last year’s KBO rookie draft. As a senior at Korea University, he went 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 13 appearances. Most notably, he’s an offensive pitcher with a very good command, striking out 57 batters and walking just four in 34 innings pitched. In the Futures League this season, he struck out 48 batters and walked 25 in 42 2/3 innings. In other words, he doesn’t shy away from batters. 메이저사이트
Although the team lost 0-5 and suffered their 10th straight loss against KT, Seok had a day to remember in his baseball career as he successfully completed his first professional start. He will always remember the Suwon mound on September 21, 2023.
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