“He has the mentality of a warrior.”
Just as Lotte Giants manager Larry Sutton said, Koo Seung-min took the mound and did his job.
He took the mound in the top of the seventh inning of a 6-3 win over the NC Dinos at Busan’s Sajik Stadium on Feb. 2 and pitched one hitless inning.
Koo was replaced after being hit in the right knee by a pitch hit by Son As-seob in the previous day’s game. He was hit after the ball bounced once on the ground, but it was a hard hit. After falling to the ground, the impact caused him to lose his balance and fall again. He was helped to the dugout by a trainer. “It was a bruise,” Sutton said.
But Koo was determined to pitch. “He said to me before the game, ‘I can pitch today, so give me a role,'” Sutton said, praising the youngster for coming in early and focusing on his recovery with a therapy device on his leg.
After starter Charlie Barnes was pulled after six innings of three-run ball, Koo was the second pitcher Sutton called upon.
Koo struck out the first batter he faced, Kwon Hee-dong. Park Gun-woo followed with an outfield fly ball. He gave up an infield single to Jason Martin in the fourth, but got Yoon Hyung-jun to fly out to center field.
The two-hit combination gave Lotte a 6-3 win and snapped a four-game losing streak. “The bullpen pitched with everything they had,” Sutton Gamdo said after the game.
Lotte has been riddled with injuries lately. Starting catcher Yoo Kang-nam (left adductor muscle) and starting pitcher Na Kyun-an (hamstring soreness) have been sidelined with injuries. Captain Ahn Chi-hong has been out of the starting lineup for three straight games with shoulder bursitis.안전놀이터
Lotte breathed a sigh of relief that Koo Seung-min avoided a major injury. Koo Seung-min is the team’s top holder this season, and has been a stalwart for the team as they surpassed the 100-hold mark for the first time in franchise history.
With the clean sheet, Koo has 15 holds on the season. He is third in the league. He is chasing the leader, KT Wiz’s Park Young-hyun (19).
Koo, who had a career-high season last year with a 2-4 record and a 2.90 ERA in 73 games, is on pace to reach the 20-hit plateau for the fourth straight year if he keeps up his current pace.