2G courage test perfectly passed, big rookie Jeon Mir
Lotte rookie right-hander Jeon Mir (19) took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning against KIA at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 26th. It was after Koo Seung-min hit Socrates with a timely hit in the middle following a wild pitch with one out and second base. Lotte chose a high school graduate following an 11-year veteran pitcher at a time when the balance of 1-1 was broken and the team had to clean up as cleanly as possible.
Jeon Mir caught Choi Hyung-woo and Kim Sun-bin with a center fielder fly and a grounder to shortstop to end the inning. Lotte lost 1-2 as it was, but once again, the situation and results showed what kind of rookie Jeon Mir is and how Lotte judges him.
Jeon Mir, the third-ranked rookie in this year's first round, who graduated from Gyeongbuk High School, pitched against SSG on the 24th with no outs. In the bottom of the eighth inning when he was being dragged 0-5, he took the mound with no outs and gave extra points with a wild pitch, but he struck out all three out counts to make his strong professional debut
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung explained the situation before the game on the 26th and said, "To make the rookie throw confidently, I put him in a more comfortable situation. The reason why he loaded the bases with no outs that day was not to raise Jeon Mir strongly, but to pitch in the situation because there was no pitcher to throw."
However, Jeon received high marks through his first appearance on the day. "I love the performance. I really liked how he moved on the mound as a rookie. He has good curves. He holds the count well with his slider and uses a curveball, but the angle of the ball is also good. I could be greedy, but I think it would be okay if I don't overface," he said.
More than anything else, he confirmed the most important guts for young pitchers. "He also seems to have guts in his pitches. We have to wait and see how he can handle such situations when things are not good, but from now on, he seems to have a good mentality," manager Kim Tae-hyung said. "After watching the situation on that day, I came up with an idea that I could use him as a coach."
And when Jeon lost the lead by one point at the game, he deployed Jeon Mir. After starting pitcher Charlie Barnes, Choi Joon-yong and Koo Seung-min took the mound. It was kind of the second Test stage. Despite trailing, Jeon did not change his expression and boldly pitched perfect innings.
Lotte has not performed very well in its bullpen session. It failed to stabilize itself with a 4.86 ERA (10th) in 2022 and 4.63 ERA (8th) in 2023. This year, he has started with seven runs in three games since the opening of the season and 7.88 ERA in the bullpen session. The emergence of a new pitcher who can be used as a valuable player in a close game is meaningful. A new, mostly high school graduate, is naturally joining the Lotte bullpen in the eighth inning.