“It was better than expected.”
Aaron Wilkerson of the Lotte Giants started on the 26th at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League Doosan Bears season 10 away match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, pitched 76 pitches in 5 innings, got 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts and 2 runs (2 earned). I tasted the thrill of harvesting.아톰카지노
Wilkerson signed a contract with Lotte during the All-Star break and wore a Lotte uniform. Although he does not have much experience in the major leagues, he pitched in 4 games in May for the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball last year and went 3-1 with an ERA of 1.04.
Wilkerson, who parted ways with Hanshin at the end of last season, was sluggish with 3 wins, 2 losses and an ERA of 6.51 while playing in the minor league Triple-A under the Oakland Athletics this year. However, Lotte judged that Wilkerson showed the possibility that he could succeed on the Asian stage while staying at Hanshin, and decided to gamble on him.
While not ‘perfect’, Wilkerson’s pitching was solid. He threw a mixture of slider (17 pitches), changeup (11 pitches), curveball (11 pitches), and cutter (4 pitches) based on his best 149km fastball (33 pitches), and his control and command were quite good. Wilkerson produced 53 strikes while throwing a total of 76 pitches. In particular, his fastball and changeup were outstanding, and his curve that fell like a waterfall was enough for a winning shot.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the lack of samples and lack of information on Wilkerson may have affected Doosan hitters’ struggles. However, commentator Kim Tae-hyung, who led the KBO’s ‘first’ to advance to the Korean Series for 7 consecutive years as Doosan Command Tower, praised Wilkerson’s pitching, saying, “The command is good” and “The curve is very powerful” in the commentary the previous day (26th).
How did coach Larry Sutton view Wilkerson’s pitching? Prior to the game against Doosan in Jamsil on the 27th, the head coach said, “I think I finished a very good first pitch yesterday. I showed a sharp appearance, especially the fastball showed the way to control the ball on both sides of the home plate.”
Wilkerson had a very good first appearance despite not being 100% physically fit due to jet lag and other factors. Manager Sutton said, “I told you that stamina is not 100%, but Wilkerson’s first start was better than expected. I think the experience in Japan helped.”
Meanwhile, Lotte, which blocked Doosan’s 12-game winning streak, is aiming for the first winning series in the second half through the starting lineup that leads to Yun Dong-hee (right fielder) – Nico Goodrum (3rd baseman) – An Chi-hong (1st baseman) – Jeon Jun-woo (left fielder) – Lee Jung-hoon (designated hitter) – Roh Jin-hyeok (shortstop) – Park Seung-wook (2nd baseman) – Yoo Kang-nam (catcher) – Kim Min-seok (center fielder).