Why did Lotte turn a 4 billion won free agent pitcher into a bullpen pitcher?
Lotte brought in Han 메이저사이트 Hyun-hee as a reliever in the bottom of the sixth inning after Dan Straily pitched a scoreless fifth inning against KT in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.
Han Hyun-hee, who signed a 3+1 year free agent contract with Lotte for a total of 4 billion won before this season, had been a regular in the starting rotation. However, Lotte chose to move him to the bullpen.
First, Lotte will return right-hander Lee In-bok, who won nine games as a starter last year. Lee will start against the Suwon KT on April 22. The addition of Lee In-bok means that someone will have to drop out of the starting rotation. In addition, Lotte’s bullpen has been underperforming lately, so the team needed to bolster its pitching staff.
Although Han Hyun-hee took the loss against the Suwon KT on April 20, giving up three runs on three hits in ⅔ of an inning, Lotte plans to continue utilizing him as a bullpen arm.
“One of our top priorities right now is to strengthen our bullpen,” said Lotte manager Larry Sutton. “Han Hyun-hee has been in the rotation as a starter and has done a good job, but she is also an experienced bullpen pitcher. Therefore, we decided that she would be a great addition to our bullpen,” he said, explaining the decision to move her to the bullpen.
“She’s going to be utilized in situations where we can win games,” Sutton continued. Yesterday (Feb. 20), we had a good five innings from Straily and we wanted to make sure we had a good pitcher in there to set the tone. We talked to our pitching coach and we decided to bring her up,” he said, adding, “You’ll see her in that role in the future.”
Han is an experienced bullpen pitcher with 105 career 메이저도메인 holds. However, if she continues to show faltering control like she did against KT in Suwon on April 20, it’s unclear if she’ll be much help to Lotte’s bullpen. On the other hand, if Han Hyun-hee can shake off the pain of the loss to KT and establish herself in the role of a closer, she will be a welcome addition to a tired Lotte bullpen.
