“It is not easy to recruit 3 free agents from outside. I am grateful to the owner (Shin Dong-bin) for approving this. It’s okay to say that you’re going to play fall baseball right away or that you want to win the championship. However, it seems certain that our team’s strength will increase. I will try to play winning baseball this year.”

These are the feelings that Giants general manager Seong Min-gyu expressed at the initiation ceremony for new players held at the Lotte Hotel Busan in January. The players who wore the new uniforms that day were Yoo Kang-nam, Noh Jin-hyuk, and Han Hyun-hee. They received 8 billion won, 5 billion won, and 4 billion won, respectively, and signed a four-year contract.메이저사이트

Director Seong’s confidence is well-founded. It is because of the judgment that the chronic weakness has been resolved. The unstable catcher and infield were reinforced, and a pitcher who could serve as both a starter and a bullpen was obtained. In other words, the so-called center line has become stronger.

The Hanwha Eagles are similar. He invested a whopping (6 years) 9 billion and got hitter No. 4. The contract with Chae Eun-seong, who came out of LG, is the first external FA recruitment in 7 years. He also made the return of Taeyang Lee, who went to SSG. It is a condition of 2.5 billion won for 4 years. In addition, internal FA Jang Si-hwan was also left for 930 million won (3 years). The official ceremonies for these three were held on November 22 and 23 last year. An investment of about 12.5 billion won was made official in two days.

General manager Son Hyuk also delivered a message of hope ahead of the opening of this season. “It is still difficult to say the rankings. But obviously we will play a lot more winning games than last year. And based on this year, next year will be called a really solid, strong team.”

It’s the 2nd week of the opening. Each team played 4-7 games. The lid has just been opened. However, the initial flow is unusual. It feels like an extension of last season. There doesn’t seem to be any noticeable change. It’s a welcome thing upstairs, but from the perspective of the town below, it’s an unusual sign.

The leaderboard is like that (as of the 8th). At the top is also the previous year’s champion. SSG (4 wins, 1 loss) with 3 consecutive victories took the lead. It shows stable power with the balance of pitching. Levels 2 and 3 are similar. KT (3 wins, 1 loss) and LG (5 wins, 2 losses) are doing well. Despite the departure of some key players, it is overcoming with a thick player base.

On the other hand, Lotte and Hanwha have already fallen into the lower ranks. They fell to 9th and 10th places with 1 win and 4 losses and 1 win and 5 losses, respectively. The two teams were 8th and 10th last season. It seems that he still can’t get out of the swamp.

In the case of the Giants, the concerns turned into reality. The void of the retired main gun is revealed. As of the 8th, the team batting average is last (0.208). Rex (0.350) and Jeon Jun-woo (0.333) play their part. Han Dong-hee, who is considered a post-Lee Dae-ho, is off to a bad start. He went 2-for-21 (1 home run) and batted less than 10% (0.095).

The same goes for the pitching staff. In particular, the problem of the bullpen is revealed. Two blown saves have already blown the lead. The aftermath of the opening game with Doosan is great. I couldn’t keep the lead of 8-3 until the 6th inning. Even in the 11th inning of overtime, it was 10-9, and it was hit by 3 points (Lohas) and lost. The opening match against KT on the 7th and 8th disappointed the home fans with a lethargic game for two days.

The Eagles’ case is even worse. The first 3 games weren’t bad. Kiwoom and Samsung played an equal game. However, all of them were pushed back by 1 point and lost 3 times in a row. Fortunately, Moon Dong-ju blocked the fourth game. It was finally on the rise, but it wasn’t.

The two home openers against the Landers were games to catch. The first game on the 7th failed to finish 3-1. In the top of the 9th inning, Jang Si-hwan blew the 2-point gap. In the end, they gave up 4 points in 10 overtime and lost. The next day was similar. He beat Kwang-hyun Kim to take a 5-0 lead. However, he allowed a chase, and eventually tied the score at 5-5 in the 8th inning. And again, they gave up the winning run in the 10th inning and lost again. The problems revealed in the bullpen and defense are decisive.

However, it is difficult to say that the reinforcement of Stoverig was useless. In particular, Chae Eun-seong’s performance is dazzling. He is 9-for-26 with a batting average of .346 and two home runs. His RBIs are also 9, building up to 1.5 per game. It is the most exemplary free agent in the current situation. Noh Jin-hyeok and Yoo Kang-nam also show a positive effect in terms of defense. However, with batting power in the early 20s, the contribution to the team’s power cannot be high.

However, there are such concerns. The longer the dark period, the harder the problem. The challenges to be addressed may be diverse and serious. Therefore, I am worried that it may not be the end with some reinforcement and looking at hands.

Of course, he hasn’t played a few games yet. It’s just the beginning of the opening. There is an expectation that at some point, when an opportunity is provided, a reversal will be made. But it shouldn’t be too late. The more the difference in power is revealed, the sooner the competitive structure is bound to harden. The yellow warning light has already started blinking.