Lotte Giants make great strides in August

The Lotte Giants had only seven wins and 12 losses (winning rate of 0.368) from June 12 to July 5, with its ranking falling from fifth place to eighth. Rumors circulated that there was conflict between its team manager Seong Min-gyu and coach Heo Moon-hoi.

People were saying a crisis, but coach Heo would say, “August will be the actual starting point for us. I believe that the team will start to jump from then.” In fact, the Giants started rising rapidly from August.

Until a game was cancelled Saturday due to rain, the team had 38 wins and 35 losses (winning rate of 0.521) and were tied for sixth with the KT Wiz. The Giants still remains among medium-ranked teams, but since the team is lagging only 3.5 games behind the third-ranked Doosan Bears, it could switch the rankings anytime if the former continues to maintain the current winning pace.

The Giants started making strides in August due to its strong defense among other factors. The team has a defensive efficiency ratio (DER) of 73.6 percent, to rank first in overall DER in the six games in August. It means that the team managed to catch 73.6 percent of fair hits from the rival teams’ hitters to secure outs. Even considering the records for the entire season, the Giants had a DER of 69.1 percent to rank second after the NC Dinosaurs (69.8 percent), demonstrating its robust defense.


Kyu-In Hwang kini@donga.com