'ERA 3.63→5.87' Collapsed Mound, "We Cannot Afford Two Mistakes" SSG's Eyes Already Turn to Next Year

*This content was translated by AI.

"Next year, we must ensure there are no worries about the starting rotation..."

Even though the team has fallen to ninth place, it is still early in the second half with 54 games remaining. Nevertheless, Lee Sung-yong (55), manager of SSG Landers, spoke of next year. This does not mean they have given up on the season. Rather, he judged that realistically changing the starting rotation for the remainder of the season would be difficult.

SSG has recorded 32 wins, 55 losses, and 3 ties in 90 games played so far. A team that had remained in the upper ranks until mid-May has now slipped to ninth place after a string of consecutive losses, with the gap to the last-place Kiwoom Heroes shrinking to just one game.

While there were multiple reasons for the shocking collapse of last year's third-place team, the most fundamental cause was the disintegration of the starting rotation.

Just before the season opener, Kim Kwang-hyun underwent surgery, and even Kim Min-jun, a high-school rookie rated as 'beyond rookie level' in the first round, was unavailable from the start.

The team held on well in the early part of the season thanks to the hard work of native pitcher Kim Geon-woo, who took on the role of the top starter, and Choi Min-jun, who secured a spot in the rotation. However, Anthony Venegas's extreme inconsistency, Mitch White's injury, and the complete inability of Asian quota pitcher Shota Takeda to contribute caused cracks to appear in the starting rotation.

Eventually, they brought in Thomas Hatch to replace White and sent away Venegas, signing Pedro Avila instead. Kim Min-jun joined late in the first half, showing some potential.

Avila made his debut in the first game of the second half and earned a victory with six scoreless innings, starting on a high note. However, the subsequent appearances by Kim Min-jun (2 innings, 5 runs allowed), Hatch (5 innings, 5 runs allowed), and Kim Geon-woo (5 innings, 4 runs allowed) were all disappointing, failing to turn things around as the team fell into another three-game losing streak.

The team's ERA was 3.63 last year, ranking second overall, but it has dropped to 5.87 this season. There is a significant gap compared to ninth-place Kiwoom (5.02). The starting rotation's ERA stands at 6.31, showing an even wider gap than Kiwoom's 4.73.

The team has recorded only 11 quality starts (six or more innings pitched by a starter with three or fewer earned runs allowed), which is more than three times less than first-place Doosan Bears (41 games) and barely half of ninth-place Kiwoom (22 games).

While they cannot give up on the season yet, there are currently no clear factors to generate genuine expectations for the starting rotation.

The word "next year" came from manager Lee Sung-yong. "Our first goal next year is to ensure we have no worries about the starters," he said. "We are considering many options. We are even thinking of moving one reliever into the starting rotation. We need to establish a framework starting now. Can't we avoid making the same mistake twice?"

Despite disappointing results, the team is enjoying record-breaking popularity. While no one can call for giving up, everyone knows this season has not been easy.

SSG is preparing for the Cheongna era after 2028. In particular, they need to look further ahead regarding the starting rotation.

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*This content was translated by AI.