Only Lotte and Kim Min-sung shined alone...Proof of Veteran Value on Day 1 of Call-Up
Only Lotte and Kim Min-sung shined alone...Proof of Veteran Value on Day 1 of Call-Up
Blog Article
Lotte Giants veteran infielder Kim Min-sung showed off his presence from the first day of the first-team call-up. He did his part alone at a time when the team's lineup was in a group slump.스포츠토토
Lotte lost 0-2 to KT Wiz in the first round match of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Sunday. It was humiliated by Youngbong`s loss in front of packed spectators at the opening game of its home game.
Due to the loss, Lotte lost one win and six games this season, falling to the bottom of the list alone. With no signs of reviving its offense, Lotte has decided to prepare for the second game of three consecutive weekend games against KT on Wednesday.
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung made significant changes to the entry list for the first division ahead of the game. The team eliminated its main shortstop Park Seung-wook, who was mired in a batting slump, and leadoff Hwang Seong-bin, who suffered a sprained left hand. Outfielder Lee In-han and infielder Choi Hang, who played substitute agents, were also instructed to change their positions in the Futures League.
Manager Kim filled the vacancy of the first team entry with infielders Kim Min-sung and Lee Ho-joon, outfielder Cho Se-jin and catcher Son Sung-bin. The key was a call-up between Kim Min-sung and Cho Se-jin, who were showing good batting performance in the Futures League.
As for Kim, he failed to participate in this year's first-tier spring camp, and was thus behind in Lotte's infield plan for the 2025 season. However, he steadily developed himself in the second-tier spring camp and displayed strong batting performance after the opening of the Futures League.
Kim played in eight Futures League games, displaying his best batting performance with a batting average of 0.455 (10 hits in 22 at-bats) with two homers, five RBIs and an OPS of 1.450." Manager Kim Tae-hyung, who had been struggling due to poor batting performance by the main fielders of the first team, called Kim into the first team along with the home opener.
Given that KT's starting pitcher is left-hander Enmanuel de Heissus, Kim has been included in the starting lineup. Kim faced Heissus as eighth hitter and second baseman.
Kim was grounded out at shortstop in his first at-bat in the bottom of the third inning, but swung his bat vigorously in his second at-bat. With two outs and no runners on base in the bottom of the fifth inning when Lotte was losing 0-1, Kim reported a hit in the 2025 season. However, he failed to score a run due to a failed follow-up hit.
Kim Min-sung also did his part in the third at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lotte was being dragged 0-1. He came out as the leadoff hitter and hit KT veteran sidearm Woo Kyu-min with a heavy hit to get on base and multiple hits.
Kim stepped on the first base at the bottom of the eighth inning and replaced Jang Doo-sung, a pinch runner, to end the game on the day. He displayed good batting performance from the first day of the call-up for the first team, raising expectations for his stellar performance in the future.
However, Lotte could not avoid defeat despite Kim Min-sung's hard work. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Yoo Kang-nam sent a runner to the scoring position thanks to his sacrifice bunt with runners on the first base with no outs, but as Yoon Dong-hee grounded out to the third base and Jeong Hoon grounded out to the shortstop, the team continued to suffer 0-1.
To make matters worse, Lotte's score gap widened to 0-2 when it was hit by an RBI triple by KT Bae Jeong-dae during defense in the top of the ninth inning. In the last attack of the regular inning in the bottom of the ninth inning, Na Seung-yeop's hit and Son Ho-young's walk made it difficult to revive hope, but that was it.
Lotte ended the game 0-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning when pinch hitter Cho Se-jin struck out KT closer Park Young-hyun with runners on first and second bases with two outs. As the team fell into a three-game losing streak, it started the 2025 season in the worst situation.