Lotte's domestic pitchers have already recorded their 15th quality start; when will the 'ups and downs' foreign investor one-two punch finally stabilize? Starting today (the 4th), we check the 157th km/h right-hander.

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants' domestic pitchers are performing vigorously.

On the 3rd, Kim Jin-wook led Lotte to an 8-3 victory in an away game against Kia at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season, pitching six innings, allowing three hits (one home run), issuing one walk, striking out three batters, and surrendering three earned runs.

That day, Kim Jin-wook threw a total of 93 pitches, including 49 fastballs, 24 sliders, 11 curveballs, and 9 changeups, successfully achieving a quality start (QS: six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs). His fastest fastball reached 151 km/h.

There were no major crises until the final inning. Aside from allowing a surprise first-pitch home run to Kim Do-young in the third inning, he maintained tight pitching through the fifth inning with just 69 pitches. In the seventh inning, he gave up a single to Han Jun-soo down the left-center gap and a double to Kim Ho-ryeong to the right-center gap, allowing one run before being replaced by Park Jung-min. Park Jung-min caught Kim Ho-ryeong attempting to steal third base and retired the following batters in consecutive strikeouts, preserving Park Se-woong's win condition and the QS.

With this, Kim Jin-wook achieved his sixth QS, advancing to a career-high season with 11 games, 3 wins, 3 losses, an ERA of 3.48, 64⅔ innings, 51 strikeouts, a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.19, and a batting average against of 0.239.

This also marked the 15th QS for Lotte's domestic pitchers. Kim Jin-wook surpassed the foreign pitchers and Na Gyun-an, who achieved a QS the previous day with six innings, to take sole first place in the team for QS.

After the game, Kim Jin-wook stated, "My senior Na Gyun-an always faces that team first, so he shares a lot of information about them. I ask him many questions. When Gyun-an pitches well, I try to pitch even better behind him." He then mentioned the underwhelming performance of the foreign pitchers. This year, the newly formed Jeremy Bissell and Yvelin Rodriguez one-two punch were both highly anticipated as power-throwing right-handed pitchers capable of throwing over 157 km/h.

However, their performance has yet to meet expectations. As of the end of the game on the 3rd, Bissell recorded 11 games, 4 wins, 3 losses, an ERA of 4.50, 58 innings, 69 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.43, and a batting average against of 0.284. His inconsistent results are somewhat disappointing. On some days, he delivers a strong outing with seven innings and one run allowed, while in the next game, he is pulled after just 2⅓ innings with three runs allowed or collapses after four innings with six runs allowed.

In response, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "Bissell seems to need to find his rhythm a bit more on the mound. When he gets hit or gives up runs, he quickly switches to something else. He might be okay if he pitches a bit more calmly, but he seems overly concerned with the outcome of each pitch. He showed this during live pitching at camp, and we thought he was doing well after a great opening game, but this issue has resurfaced. He needs to perform better himself."

Rodriguez is equally disappointing. He has recorded 10 games, 3 wins, 4 losses, an ERA of 5.12, 51 innings, 52 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.49, and a batting average against of 0.267. Since the match against Busan Samsung Lions on the 24th of last month, he has experienced lower back pain and was excluded from the first-division roster. Fortunately, the injury is not severe, and he is currently traveling with the first-division team.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung explained, "Rodriguez is currently training. We plan to check his bullpen pitching around Thursday (the 4th). We need to see him one more time before deciding on his return to the first division. It could be possible as early as Friday (the 5th)."

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*This content was translated by AI.