Return of the injured without promise + Discord of pitching and burning…Lee Seung-yeop's last year on "re-contract" is unusual
Return of the injured without promise + Discord of pitching and burning…Lee Seung-yeop's last year on "re-contract" is unusual
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Doosan lost 2-6 in the away game of the season's fourth game between the Samsung Lions and the team in the 2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 2nd, falling into a swamp of three consecutive losses.스포츠토토
Lee Seung-yeop, who took the helm for the first time in 2023, brought Doosan back to the postseason stage after suffering the humiliation of its first No. 9 position in 2022. It didn't go any higher than the wild-card game, but it did manage to achieve its primary goal. And Doosan finished the pennant race in fourth place last year, marking the second consecutive year of invitation to the fall festival.
However, the results were not good. Doosan ended its postseason schedule in vain again, failing to pick a single player during its two matches against KT Wiz. Still, considering that foreign pitchers were injured one after another last year and several players were involved in Oh Jae-won's drug substitution prescription scandal, the team did not have a bad result.
In response, Doosan looked higher this year and prepared for the season. He surprised everyone by bringing in Cole Irvin, the "active big leaguer" who won 28 games in the Major League alone, and Jake Cave, who hit 45 home runs during his seven seasons in the big leagues, also raised expectations for the 2025 season. Of course, there were more than just positive factors.
The game between the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants of the "2025 professional baseball KBO League" took place at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the afternoon of the 27th. Doosan Cave cheers after hitting a timely RBI single with two outs and runners on the first and third bases in the bottom of the seventh inning./My Daily
Doosan once again failed to induce Heo Kyung-min (KT), who qualified as a free agent (FA), to stay, and also ended his companionship with Kim Kang-ryul (LG Twins). Huh Kyung-min's absence was inevitably felt quite big, but Doosan decided that Kang Seung-ho's position transfer and the opportunity for young fielders in the second base position could fill the gap.
And as Doosan established a new must-win group last year, which will lead to Lee Byung-hun, Choi Ji-gang and Kim Taek-yeon, Doosan has entered a "new round" by securing young outfield resources such as Kim Min-seok and Choo Jae-hyun in exchange for giving up infielder Jeon Min-jae through trade. In particular, owner Park Jung-won visited the Miyazaki 2nd camp and delivered a strong message, "I'm not playing baseball to be fourth or fifth. I hope you will do your best with passion and repay your fans with Bears-like baseball," boosting the morale of the team.
Again, however, the season did not go as expected. Doosan faced a variable in which Choi Ji-gang, who established himself as a "set-up man" last year, was absent ahead of the opening of the regular season, and Kwak Bin, a native ace, and Hong Geon-hee, one of the "core bullpen" resources, were hit with a lightning strike when they were out of the lineup due to injuries. And right after the start of the season, Lee Byung-hun went down to the second division after a sluggish performance.
As a result, Doosan started March at the bottom of the league with two wins and six losses, and struggled with 10 wins and 12 losses in April, hardly getting out of the bottom. In particular, Doosan, which finished with one draw and two losses in three consecutive games against KT Wiz, the last series in April, fell to its knees with 2-6 against Samsung on the same day, and was already in a swamp of three consecutive losses. Doosan still has 110 games left, but the gap with fifth-ranked KT has already widened to four games.
The only way Doosan can turn the tables is for the injured to return and the revival of its existing must-winners, but it still takes a long time for Kwak Bin and Hong Kun-hee to return. It is not the only game. Choi resumed pitching on the 30th of last month (one run with three outs in one inning), but Lee Byung-hun has yet to find his good form. Choi got off to a worst start with an 11.05 ERA in eight games, and Kim Taek-yeon, who he believed in, is also showing signs of instability due to lost goals in three consecutive games.
As the back door has become looser, the batters have to score more points, but the offense is also disappointing. Kang Seung-ho, who moved to third base, has a batting average of less than 20%, and Yang Seok-hwan, who drew 34 arches last year, has only four hits and a batting average of 0.259 in 31 games. Indeed, there is no way out. It is not easy to start the last season of head coach Lee Seung-yeop, whose renewal is at stake.