Hairy ace’ Dan Strayley (Lotte Giants) recorded a quality start (less than 3 earned runs in 6 innings) this season for the first time this season. There were a lot of well-hit balls, and there were pitches that deviated greatly from the strike zone, but it was clear that he was better than the previous pitches.
Strayley started on the 9th in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League Doosan Bears season 3 home match held at Sajik Stadium in Busan, and pitched 96 pitches in 6 innings, 6 hits (1 home run), 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and 2 runs. (2 earned runs).
Strayley, who stepped on the KBO League stage in Lotte’s uniform in 2020, appeared in 31 games in his debut season and recorded an average ERA of 2.50 with 15 wins and 4 losses, becoming an ‘ace’. And although his performance dropped slightly the following year, he managed to win double digits for the second consecutive year with a 4.07 earned run average of 10-12 in 31 games. After the season, Lotte naturally hoped to renew the contract with Strayley. But Strayley’s heart was not like that.
Strayley, who spent two seasons in the KBO League, conveyed his intention to challenge the major leagues to the club, and wore the Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. But Strayley’s performance in Arizona was disastrous. He failed to appeal his competitiveness with an ERA of 6.57 per loss and 1 loss in 4 exhibition games (1 start), and in the end his dream of reentering the big leagues did not come true.
After the season started, Strayley, who had not been called up to the big leagues for a while, turned his attention back to the KBO league. Then, he returned wearing a Lotte uniform and recorded an average ERA of 2.31 with 4 wins and 2 losses in 11 games, showing off his skills when he first stepped on the KBO league stage and raising expectations. However, his performance this season has been truly disastrous.
Strayley left a disappointment with 3 runs in 5 innings in his first appearance of the year against the Doosan Bears, and in his second appearance of the season, he was sluggish with 5 runs in 6 innings (4 earned). The bad flow continued. Strayley gave up 4 runs in 4⅔innings (3 earned) against the Samsung Lions, 3 runs in 3 innings (3 earned) in a match against the KIA Tigers, and 1 run in 3 innings (1 earned) in the most recent appearance against the Hanwha Eagles. done.
As for the reason for Strayley’s sluggish performance, coach Larry Sutton said, “Even in America, he always struggled in April. You can ask the question, ‘It makes sense that the season has passed for a month and the range of motion hasn’t come out yet’, but Strayley is also an old player, born in 1988. Considering this, he knows his weaknesses and is working hard on them.”
As April has passed and May has begun, coach Sutton expressed his anticipation even before the game on the 9th. The command tower said, “Strayly is responsible for the start of the week. Strayley is showing improvement, and Strayley’s performance is important for the team to go in the winning direction. Looking forward to Strayley, who has grown a notch today. There is, and I will show a good figure.”
Strayley’s pitching wasn’t perfect, but it was clearly better than his previous five appearances. However, his only regret was that he did not receive support from other players. In the first inning, Strayley tied the top lineup leading to Su-bin Jung, Jose Rojas, and Jae-hwan Kim in a tripartite, and then quickly built up an outcount by turning Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan back in the second inning. However, after the 2nd company, it was disappointing.
Strayley was attacked with a 145km body fastball in the second pitch by Heo Kyung-min, and allowed the first run by giving up a solo home run to tie the score. A bad trend continued. After being hit by lead batter Lee Yoo-chan in the third inning, Strayley allowed a stolen base and was in danger of conceding a run. And he suddenly swayed and gave Rojas a ball that fit his body, causing a crisis with 1 company 1st and 3rd base. Here, he was hit with a sacrifice fly by Kim Jae-hwan and scored the second run.
But after that, the pitching was solid. In the 4th inning, Strayley gave away a double to Heo Gyeong-min and a hit to Yang Chan-yeol. And in the 5th inning, he tied the top batting line up again with Sue-bin Jung, Lohas, and Jae-hwan Kim, marking the second tripartite strike that day, and in the 6th inning, he climbed the mound and blocked the Doosan batting line without a run, recording his first quality start this season.안전놀이터
He suffered the yoke of defeat, not victory, as he was not helped by the batting line, but it was definitely encouraging that he threw the best pitch this season. While Strayley threw a total of 96 pitches with a maximum distance of 148 km that day, the strike was aggressive enough to record 73 pitches and 76%. ‘Hairy Ace’ fired a signal flare of rebound.