“Last year was last year, and this year is this year.”
Lotte Giants coach Larry Sutton said he would not repeat the mistakes of last year. Can the rising giants really change this year?
It was a miracle April. No one expected, but Lotte finished last month with the league’s sole first place (14 wins and 8 losses). And although it lost the lead to SSG Landers in May, it still maintains the game difference ‘1’ and is in second place in the league (15 wins and 9 losses), keeping the top rank.
Lotte could not play the Gwangju KIA Tigers game on the 4th and the Sajik Samsung Lions game on the 5th due to rain. From the 6th, I plan to play the rest of the weekend series with Samsung.
There’s a reason why I’m interested in Samsung and the series for the first weekend in May. It is because of the afterimage that was like a nightmare last year. Lotte met a bitter result on the first weekend of May last year, just a year ago. At the time, the team was running second in the league (16 wins, 1 draw, 11 losses). However, it met with Samsung (May 6-8) and suffered a series sweep, and the momentum was dampened.
Lotte fell down without a brake, and at the end of May, the ranking fell to 7th place (23 wins, 1 draw, 26 losses). Lotte failed to advance to the postseason, unable to revive the momentum once lost.
Manager Sutton, who took the baton of Lotte last year, also remembered this day a year ago. However, he insisted that this year would be different.
Coach Sutton said, “I remember playing against Samsung around this time last year.” “But last year was last year, and this year is this year. They played well in April and against KIA (2nd-4th). I think this atmosphere will continue.”
“Coaches and players place top priority on consistent performance. We pay as much attention as possible to the detailed areas that we can control to prepare for good performance. It is also important to do so. Of course, it would be nice if victory followed. However, winning or losing is an area that we cannot control. We plan to focus on what we can do and move forward.”
Lotte was strong at the beginning of the season for 먹튀검증 a long time, but the evaluation was that it could not maintain the initial upward trend. Due to these characteristics, the expression ‘bomde (a compound word of spring and lotte)’ also appeared. In this regard, the command tower pointed out what has improved this year and what the team should do for the rest of the year.
Coach Sutton said, “(Lotte in 2023) is different from Lotte in the past, and the entry was made up of players with good athleticism. The depth of the bullpen and backup has also improved. As you can see from the team entry now, the existing core We have a dynamic entry with veterans, free agent (free agent) recruits, and young and athletic prospects. The team color has changed from before.”
He continued, “We need high performance for the Korean series, which we are aiming for. We need to develop more in the future with how consistently we will maintain our performance with our members throughout the season.”
Lotte experienced a bitter taste by falling from 2nd place to 7th place in the league in May a year ago. Will Lotte repeat the history of 2022 this year, or will it go beyond spring and welcome a new golden age?