Even if it was wrong, it was a very wrong look. Who can call him a true ace?
Lotte Giants Dan Strayley started the game against the KIA Tigers held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 20th and recorded 4 hits, 3 walks, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts and 3 runs in 3 innings and was beaten. He failed to contribute to the game with a record that was embarrassing to be called an ace.
On this day, Strayley seemed to have recovered his pitch to some extent. His highest speed was taken to 147 km. However, the pitch was still unstable. He was like a ticking time bomb when he reviewed the previous three games. Strayley backed up the other line’s 3-point support. He was relatively stable until the second inning. However, in the top of the 3rd inning, which he faced after scoring 3 points, he collapsed on his own.
In the 3rd inning, Strayley treated lead hitter Joo Hyo-sang with a floating ball to center fielder. However, he was hit by Park Chan-ho in left field. Getting hit was understandable. But after that, he never played a role as an ace. Last year at 1 company and 1 base, Park Chan-ho, the king of stolen bases (42), was not checked at all. He effectively issued a free pass to second base. He went one out and second base. And he gave Ryu Ji-hyeok a walk. He blocked the opponent’s sacrifice bunt attempt against Lee Chang-jin and preempted the two strikes. However, he developed a difficult match with Lee Chang-jin. The deciding balls became fouls and were far out of the strike zone. In the end, he played an eight-pitch full count and allowed a walk.
Strayley was self-inflicted. The process of allowing the bases full was not good. And the process was not good, but the behavior he showed after the process made viewers frown. Against Socrates, he also caught 2 strikes first and seemed to induce a ground ball with the 3rd pitch. However, first baseman Koh Seung-min missed the ball. The record was a hit, but it could be seen as an error defense. A double hit could have been possible if this batted ball was handled, but he missed it.
At this time, Strayley scolded Ko Seung-min with a nuance that seemed to say, “Why didn’t you catch that ball?” Gestures were great too. Go Seung-min couldn’t help but put on an expression of sorry and shame mixed together.
After that, Strayley self-destructed. In 3-1, Hwang Dae-in gave a hit ball and pushed it away, conceding an extra point. After that, Hyung-Woo Choi was also allowed to walk. After bringing the bases loaded crisis to himself, he actually dedicated three runs himself. Ko Seung-min was also responsible, but it wasn’t to the extent that Strayley criticized Ko Seung-min.
Afterwards, Strayley eliminated Kim Seon-bin with a shortstop double hit and finished the third inning without additional runs, but in many ways it seemed that he had lost the trust of the bench. In the bullpen, Kim Jin-wook was almost completely relaxed. In the end, when lead hitter Ko Jong-wook was allowed a hit in the 4th inning, pitching coach Bae Young-soo carried the ball up to the mound without delay. It wasn’t bad, but with a not-so-good record, Strayley was beaten.
The action may have emerged from Strayley’s stuffy mind. However, Strayley was one of the main culprits of the current Lotte bullpen overload. Strayley went six innings only once this year. The match against KT on the 8th, which was a 6-inning firefight, was also an embarrassing result with 5 runs (4 earned runs) in 6 innings.
In the end, on this day as well, Strayley couldn’t do his part. And Kim Jin-wook, who succeeded Strayley, laid the foundation for the team’s 5-3 comeback victory with 3 innings, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk and no-hitter pitching.
Strayley’s behavior was not very good. The appearance of the bench, which responded decisively to this, suggested a lot of things for Lotte in the future. 메이저놀이터