Lee Jong-woon, who completed his job with a 5% win rate, is set to be replaced by Kim Tae-hyung as Lotte’s new manager.
Lotte won the final game of the season to clinch the Yujong title. The team finished with 18 wins, 18 losses, and a 5.5 percent winning percentage under acting head coach Lee Jong-woon (57).
Lotte, led by acting manager Lee Jong-woon, won the season finale against Hanwha in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League 7-2 on Saturday at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon.
Starting pitcher Shim Jae-min set the stage for the victory with four innings of four-hit ball, one walk, six strikeouts and one run (unearned), while the bullpen combined for five innings of one-run ball. In the fifth inning, Choi Jun-yong was hit in the right shoulder by a hard-hit ball from Noh Si-hwan and had to leave the game, but Shin Jeong-rak came on quickly and pitched ⅔ scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season. Koo Seung-min pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings to reach 22.
At the plate, Jeon Jun-woo went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Han Dong-hee went 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one walk. Ahn Kwon-su, a third-generation Korean-American playing his farewell game in the KBO, finished the game with an RBI single to right in the eighth inning.
With the win, Lotte snapped a three-game losing streak and finished with a 68-76 record (.472 winning percentage) and seventh place in the final standings. With 2017 being their last year of fall baseball, they missed the postseason for the sixth straight year beginning in 2018. From April 20 to May 2, the team went on a nine-game winning streak for the first time in 15 years to take sole possession of first place in 11 years, but the upswing was short-lived. A June slump that lasted three months led to another unsuccessful season.
When head coach Larry Sutton stepped down in late August, Lee Jong-woon took over as acting head coach and led the team for the remainder of the season. Under Lee Jong-woon, Lotte fared relatively well with 18 wins, 18 losses and a 5 percent winning percentage in 36 games, but nothing miraculous happened.
Lee, who was the head coach of Lotte in 2015, took the reins again after an eight-year hiatus and focused on guiding the team through a difficult period, and he did just that in this game.
After the game, Lee said, “There was a cold epidemic in the squad and some players were not feeling well, but we finished the last game with a win. I hope it will bring some comfort to the fans,” he said of the victory.
He continued, “I’m grateful to the players for doing their best until the end. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the fans who traveled to Daejeon to support us in the cold weather,” he said, thanking the players for a difficult season and the fans for their support.
Meanwhile, Lotte responded to the news that former Doosan coach Kim Tae-hyung (56) will be the new head coach, saying, “Nothing has been finalized. We will appoint a new manager by the end of this month.”
However, the baseball world is strongly in favor of Kim Tae-hyung as the new manager of Lotte. Kim Tae-hyung, who led the Doosan to seven consecutive Korean Series titles between 2015 and 2021 and won the pennant three times, 먹튀검증토토사이트 is considered one of the best managers in the KBO. His strong charisma, determination, and competitive spirit helped launch the Doosan dynasty.
In his eight years with Doosan, Kim compiled a record of 645 wins, 485 losses, 19 draws, and a winning percentage of 5.7-1 in 1149 games. In the postseason, he went 36-24 in 60 games, a winning percentage of 6 percent. After stepping down from Doosan at the end of last year, he spent this year as a commentator for SBS Sports. Since Sutton’s departure, Kim has been a favorite to become the next Lotte manager.
Recently, he was also reportedly in talks with Lotte. However, due to the departure of team president Sung Min-kyu, it may take a little longer for the final appointment to be made. A veteran is being talked about as the next head coach.
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