New Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung (55) revealed his plans for foreign players in the new season after the first team meeting at the Gimhae Sangdong Stadium on April 25.”(Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson) are pitchers with good control and game management,” Kim said, noting that he hasn’t had any official talks with the club yet.In his second season with Lotte this year, Barnes, 29, went 11-10 with a 3.28 ERA in 170 1/3 innings in 30 games.He overcame a rough start to the season and settled down in the second half, raising expectations for his performance in the new season.Wilkerson, 34, came in as a replacement for Dan Straily and impressed with a 7-2 record and a 2.26 ERA in 79⅔ innings in 13 games.
He’s an ace by every metric except for his age.”I’ve seen a lot of foreign players,” Kim said, “but no matter how good their record is, if they make the wrong first move, their performance is too bad. Unless there is a player who is much better than these two, it would be better to go steady,” Kim said, expressing his intention to re-sign them.Foreign hitter Nico Gudrum, 31, showed accuracy with a 0.295 batting average, but he failed to hit a home run and committed 13 errors in 50 games.Kim said, “I think we just change foreign hitters. I didn’t think about it. They don’t play good defense, so their utility value drops,” Kim said, adding, “I’m considering them as players with good long balls.”In short, he asked the club to re-sign the two foreign pitchers, but to sign a foreign hitter with long batting power.
From the club’s point of view, it’s easier for the new manager to get things moving if he makes his intentions known early on.”Even within the club, the direction of foreign players was set by the manager, so I think we just need to stick with it,” said a Lotte team official.Communication on the field and at the front desk is an essential condition for good performance.It’s only the beginning, but Kim’s refreshing words and the front office’s receptiveness to 카지노사이트킹 them are not bad.Lotte’s next task is to appoint a new head coach.