Only once in 11 years. Six consecutive years of frustration. This is the Lotte Giants’ latest fall baseball challenge.

With the LG Twins winning the Korean Series last year, Lotte is now the only team that hasn’t won the Korean Series in over 30 years. This is especially frustrating for fans, as the team has been a part of the KBO since its inception in 1982.

In order for the Busan baseball fans to get their hopes up, they need to start with fall baseball. And for that, they need the success of foreign farming and the presence of a native ace with a certain weight.

There are expectations for the foreigners. They re-signed both Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson, 안전놀이터 who both showed promise in the second half of last year. The starting lineup of Barnes-Wilkerson-Park-Se-woong-Na-Gyun-Ahn is strong enough to compete with any team.

This is where Park needs to step up.

The foundation was laid. After the Tokyo Olympics, the World Baseball Classic (WBC), and the Hangzhou Asian Games, he gained valuable experience and resolved his military issues. Now all he has to do is answer the expectations of the club that signed him to a non-free agent extension.

Last year, Park appeared in 27 games, going 9-7 with a 3.45 ERA. It was a good performance, but he missed the chance to win 10 games for the third straight year. It was a disappointment, even considering the Asian Games.

Park has pitched 681⅔ innings in the last five years, starting in 2019. Among Korean pitchers, he has logged the most innings after Won Tae-in (726) and Yang Hyun-jong (703⅓), which has helped ease the burden on the bullpen and fulfill his duties as a starter. That’s why Park prides himself on his innings.

However,

if we look at the performance of the homegrown aces of the teams that reached the top five last year, they were Lim Chan-kyu (14 wins, 3.42 ERA), Ko Young-pyo (12-7, 2.78), Kwak Bin (12-7, 2.90), Kim Kwang-hyun (9-8, 3.53), and Choi Won-tae (9-7, 4.30). Others who fell short of the top five were Lee Yi-ri (11 wins, 7 losses, 3.96), Yang Hyun-jong (9 wins, 11 losses, 3.53), Moon Dong-joo (8 wins, 8 losses, 3.72), Ahn Woo-jin (9 wins, 7 losses, 2.39), and Won Tae-in (7 wins, 7 losses, 3.18). All of these pitchers were more than equal to Park’s performance.

If Park is to lead Lotte into fall baseball and be considered a true ace, he’ll need to finish in the top five among them.

He’s a quiet man, but he burns hot. His loyalty and responsibility to the team is already there. 안전한 파워볼사이트 All that’s left is performance. If Park becomes a pitcher who wins at least 12 games and maybe 14 or 15, Lotte’s challenge won’t just be fall baseball. That’s the weight of a pitcher nicknamed the “Glasses Ace”.