Despite 8-game losing streak, holding onto 3rd place... Lotte's autumn baseball depends on Gamboa and Velasquez

[Financial News]  Lotte Giants are faltering. This season, there was not a single sweep loss, nor a 4-game losing streak, but Lotte has fallen into a losing streak swamp. The longest losing streak of the season, 8 games.
However, looking at the standings, they are still in 3rd place. This fact alone proves how many victories Lotte has accumulated this season. Experts doubted, saying 'Can Lotte really?', but at the point of looking at the regular season finish line, they stood higher than anyone else. But now, Lotte is in the deepest swamp.
Even in April last year, right after manager Kim Tae-hyung took office, Lotte suffered a 9-game losing streak. The cause is the same then and now. The silence of the batting lineup. This month's team batting average is 0.199. It is the only one among the 10 league teams that does not reach 0.200. The slugging power is even more serious. The team slugging percentage is 0.251, more than 0.100 lower than Hanwha's 0.360. The team has only 2 home runs. If you can't score more than an average of 2.6 points a month, a losing streak is a natural result.
Until the 6th, Lotte's postseason advancement probability was 94.9%. However, after an 8-game losing streak, it dropped by more than 21 percentage points in just ten days. Still, many officials highly evaluate Lotte's autumn baseball journey. It means that Lotte has accumulated that much 'buffer'. But the numbers are warning. It says that the door to autumn baseball can close at any time. 


Lotte last experienced autumn baseball in 2017. A whopping 8 years ago. Most of the current key players have no experience in autumn baseball. The injury of key hitter Jun-woo Jeon is shaking even the team's leadership. Jun-woo Jeon was a clutch leader who hit timely hits at crucial moments. It is never easy for such a team to turn the last corner of the ranking battle. This is why manager Kim Tae-hyung's shoulders are heavy.
What Lotte needs now is not words. It's a victory to break the losing streak. That responsibility lies with Alec Gamboa and Vince Velasquez.
Gamboa is a definite ace with 7 wins and 4 losses, and an ERA of 2.21 in 12 games this season. If he cannot break the losing streak against Samsung, if Velasquez, who is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday, cannot show his true skills, Lotte may not just be in a 'losing streak swamp' but in real danger of missing autumn baseball altogether.



In baseball, a losing streak seems like an endless swamp. But once it's broken, everything changes. The problem is when to seize 'that one time'. Lotte has already grown enough.
However, to become a truly strong team, they must navigate moments of crisis. The batting lineup has cycles. It can be terribly silent and then burst like a dam. Now is the time for Kim Tae-hyung's team to prove their real strength amidst the ordeal of an 8-game losing streak. And that beginning must start with Gamboa and Velasquez.


jsi@fnnews.com Sang-il Jeon, Reporter