The Doosan Bears are in a tight race for the top spot. With a busy road ahead, manager Lee Seung-yeop talks about foreign power.
Doosan hasn’t been able to play at 100 percent. So, before their home game against SSG Landers at Jamsil Stadium on the 20th, Lee talked about the race for the top spot, saying, “We’re just trying to hold on. We haven’t played at full strength yet. There are times when I get angry about that,” he lamented.
“It’s the manager’s fault that there are injuries and the players are not focused,” Lee said. “I sometimes ask myself if I am helping Doosan,” Lee said.
According to Lee, Doosan was off to a rocky start to the season. Foreign pitcher Dylan Pyle was hit in the head by a pitch at the end of spring training and has been rehabbing since opening day (April 1). He made his first appearance on the first team mound on April 4.
It was against Hanwha, and he took the loss after giving up five runs in four innings. Then, against Lotte on the 11th, he gave up four runs (three earned) in five innings. Then, he developed elbow pain again, and Doosan finally decided to part ways with him.
So they brought back Brandon Waddell, who went 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 11 games in the KBO last year in a Doosan uniform.
“We’re at a 5.5 win percentage, and it’s time for us to really go up. We’re going into the middle of the season, and if we drop any further, it’s definitely going to set the tone. We can’t afford to lose from here on out. We will fight with all our might. There’s nowhere to go but up.”
The team is desperate to get foreign pitcher Brandon on board. It’s unclear if it will work, but for now, the starting rotation needs to be unchanged. For now, Brandon will pitch against the Gochukkium Heroes on the 24th. Lee said, “Brandon will come in on the 21st. He will pitch in the bullpen on the 22nd and then prepare for the game on Saturday,” Lee said.
There is one more piece to the puzzle for Doosan. Doosan has been playing without foreign-born Jose Rojas lately. Rojas was sent down to the second team on Nov. 11 after struggling.
Rojas was batting just 2-for-5 in 49 games before being sent down. He’s a prolific hitter with 10 home runs, but he was in the midst of an extreme hitting slump, going 1-for-38 in his last 10 games before being dropped from the first team. He was in no shape to be used.
Lee is still getting reports on Rojas, who is playing with the second team. “I’m still getting reports,” Lee said. We have 21 days to register him for the first team roster, but I think we need to think about it more carefully. If we call him up just because he’s available and the results are not good, it could be a negative factor. 토토사이트 We’re going to think about it more,” he said.
He also laid out the criteria for a first-team call-up. “If your batting is perfect, you can be called up to the first team right away, but if it’s not perfect, you need to think about it more. In the Futures League, it’s not just about ‘getting a few at-bats’ or ‘getting a hit’. It’s more about how well you can follow and hit the ball in a pitcher’s circle and make the swings you want to make at the times you want to make them.”