Park Se-woong (29), the "glass ace" who failed to win double-digit wins despite his stellar pitching performance at the end of the season, also expressed his sorrow.
Park pitched in 30 games and 173 ⅓ innings in the 2024 season, posting 6 wins, 11 losses and a 4.78 ERA. He allowed 67 four outs and 188 hits while striking out 124. He marked a batting average of 0.275 and a WHIP of 1.41 per inning.
He tied for third overall in innings and was by far the lead among Korean players. He played in six or more innings 18 times, displaying performance that showed some calculations. He also formed a triangle formation with Aaron Wilkerson (196 ⅔ innings), the No. 1 player in innings in the league, and Charlie Barnes (150 ⅔ innings), who finished the regular innings despite being out for 44 days due to injury, to build a stable starting lineup.
However, his 4.78 ERA was the highest since 2018 (9.92), when he played 49 innings due to elbow injury. When it comes to seasons in which he pitched more than 100 innings, it was after 2016 (5.76 in 139 innings).
Park, who had ups and downs since the beginning of the season, showed good performance with an earned run average of 3.59 points until the game against Kia Tigers on May 22. However, he started to falter after allowing 10 runs (nine earned runs) in four ⅔ innings at the match against Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on May 28, the next day he took the mound. He allowed four runs or more in all of his first four games in June, and ended the first half with an earned run average of 5.36.
However, he started to gain stability little by little in the second half, and in particular, he played more than six innings in all five games in September, earning an ERA of 2.78. However, he has failed to secure a starting win in as many as 14 games since his victory over Hanwha in Sajik on June 27. Amid sluggishness and bad luck, he had the fewest wins in five years after winning three games in 2019.
Park was evaluated as a player who can consistently win 10 games in the regular innings, and signed a non-FA multi-year contract worth 9 billion won for five years with Lotte after the end of the 2022 season. Park pitched well with an ERA of 3.45 last year, even if he had no luck in winning games, but failed to meet expectations this year. Contrary to expectations that Park will grow into an ace, he has continued to win 10 games and achieve the regular innings every year.
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung also firmly said at the end of the season that he should throw better pitches than this year. "He says, 'He must have felt something this year,' but how many years has that been? It has to be different now," Kim said. "As a pitcher leader, I need to have a sense of responsibility that I am the ace in Korea." Kim, who had ordered Park to throw aggressive pitches throughout the season, pointed out, "To be aggressive is to do it with confidence, but that's not enough." 안전놀이터
Still, Kim said, "It's very helpful for a starting pitcher to throw without resting in the middle," expressing expectations, "[Park] Se-woong has to play a role as the ace now. It will get better."
Na Kyun-an (26), the Lotte Giants' trusted starting pitcher, had the worst season due to various problems, while Lee In-bok (33) hardly made it in the second half due to poor performance in the early stages. Except for Kim Jin-wook (22), Korean starters rarely made it to Korea. Under these circumstances, Park's sense of responsibility has become heavier.