Excluding Yoo Kang-nam 3G in a row → Is Park Se-woong's partner Son Sung-bin? Data says NO! Kim Taehyung's choice is

*This content was translated by AI.

The "experiment" surrounding the Lotte Giants' starting catcher is taking more than a breakthrough. With "8 billion man" Yoo Kang-nam (34), who is close to the main catcher, excluded from the starting lineup for the third consecutive game, head coach Kim Tae-hyung's eyes are now on the selection of partner Park Se-woong (31), the right-hander of "Glasses Ace."

Lotte once again entrusted Son Seong-bin (24) with the starting catcher mask in an away game against the Kiwoom Heroes of the "2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League" at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 11th. Since the match against KT in Sajik on the 7th, Yoo Kang-nam's exclusion from starting has continued for the third game.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung's decision was decisive. In a meeting with reporters before the game on the 11th, coach Kim said, "Neither catcher's batting condition has risen. If so, I think it is right to use Son Sung-bin, who shows a little better performance in terms of defense," he explained.

In fact, Jeremy Bisley (31), a foreign player who started the day, worked with Yoo Kang-nam in both of the previous two games, but the results were clearly divided. In particular, he collapsed with 10 hits and 6 runs in 4 innings against SSG on the 4th, but he left a good performance against Kiwoom on the 11th with 5 hits, 7 strikeouts, and 1 walk in 6 innings.

Attention is naturally focused on Park Se-woong, who is scheduled to take the mound on the 12th. In terms of superficial data alone, Yoo Kang-nam has the upper hand. Since moving to Lotte, Yoo Kang-nam has played the most innings with Park Se-woong and has been working together on a stable ERA (ERA). In particular, the OPS (on-base plus slugging) index, which suppresses the offensive productivity of the opponent's batters, is crucial.

According to the baseball statistics site Stattiz, Park Se-woong played 125 innings with Yoo Kang-nam, the most in the 2025 season, with an POPS of 0.726. However, he spent 20 ⅓ innings with Son Sung-bin, and his POPS was slightly higher at 0.758. Even though there are more samples, Yoo Kang-nam's ratio record is better. As a result, the data points to Park Se-woong and Yoo Kang-nam.

The same was true of Park Se-woong's 2024 season. In the 2024 season, Park Se-woong played the most 74 ⅓ innings with Information Geun, with an POPS of 0.717. When he was with Son Sung-bin (56 ⅔ innings), the POPS (0.763) was the highest. In the 2024 season, Park Se-woong threw the least with 34 ⅓ innings with Yoo Kang-nam, with the best POPS of 0.703. The 2024 season data can also be interpreted as the best chemistry between Park Se-woong and Yoo Kang-nam.

However, Son Seong-bin is the best for the latest data. Lotte's starting catcher was Son Sung-bin from the time left-hander Kim Jin-wook pitched eight innings of one run against Sajik KT in August, the start of Lotte's three consecutive wins. Coincidentally, in all three games where Son Sung-bin wore a starting mask, the starting pitchers scored more than six innings and one run or less. There were as many as two innings.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung said in a meeting with reporters on the 11th, "In the end, it's no use if the pitcher can't throw. The pitcher throws well, so the result is good. Both pitchers and catchers know that you have to pitch aggressively without being dragged by the count. In the end, he replied, "If you get disadvantaged in the count while playing ball ball ball, you have no choice but to get hit." In the end, it is interpreted as talking about the deterrent power when blocking or runners go out, not because of ball mixing and catcher lead.

In the end, head coach Kim Tae-hyung's choice is narrowed down to whether it is Yoo Kang-nam of "Experience and Data" or Son Sung-bin of "Recent Rise and Stability." Lotte is currently continuing its experiment to find a "combination to win" rather than a solid starting system in the catcher position. The name of the catcher, who will be in the starting lineup against Kiwoom in Gocheok on the 12th, is expected to be an important milestone in determining the direction of Lotte's home turf in the future.

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*This content was translated by AI.