How did he survive six seasons in the Major League and become a finalist for the Gold Glove Award? This is the mystery of Nico Goodrum (Lotte Giants).안전놀이터

Lotte, which ranked first last April and continued its upward trend in May, suddenly began to fall in June. There are many reasons behind Lotte’s plummet. However, the most superficial reason was that key players left the line due to injuries and foreign players were unable to recover from their slump. As a result, Lotte made changes to lift the sagging atmosphere starting from the All-Star break.

The first move Lotte made was to part ways with Jack Rex. Last year, Rex wore a Lotte uniform as a replacement foreign hitter for DJ Peters, and played in 56 games, recording 72 hits, 8 home runs, 34 RBIs, 32 runs, a batting average of 0.330, and an OPS of 0.905, helping Lotte secure a ticket to the postseason by the end of the season. I created a picture that can be competed against.

Lotte, who had a good performance last year, had no reason not to renew his contract with Rex, and continued to do so this year as well. However, Rex’s performance was clearly different from last year. Rex played with a knee injury all season, which had a huge impact on his performance. Rex repeatedly showed disappointing defensive performances as an outfielder, and was unable to sprint as a runner. Moreover, he even went cold with the bat.

Lotte hoped that Rex’s knee would improve and sent him down to the second team during the season to give him a recovery period, but his condition did not improve significantly. In the end, the only answer for the knee to completely heal was a long break, but Lotte, which is aiming to advance to the postseason, eventually pulled out its sword just before the All-Star break. They released Rex and recruited Nico Goodrum.

Expectations for Gudrum were clearly high. Goodrum is a proven player who debuted with the Minnesota Twins in 2017 and played six seasons in the major league, including stints with the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. In the big league, Gudrum showed many problems in offensive ability, including starting pitching, but his performance in Triple A, a minor league affiliated with the Boston Red Sox this year, was clearly impressive.

Goodrum played in 65 games at Boston Triple-A this year, hitting 61 hits, 8 home runs, 36 RBIs, 49 runs, and a batting average of .280. The most notable aspect of Goodrum’s performance was his on-base percentage. Goodrum, who started wearing glasses, had an outstanding on-base percentage of 0.448 in 65 games. Above all, the not-so-small sample of ‘65 games’ was meaningful.

In addition, Goodrum left a very disappointing batting record with a career batting average of 0.226 and an OPS of 0.688 in the major leagues. Nevertheless, the reason he was able to play in the big leagues for 6 seasons was because of his ‘defensive ability’. Goodrum was versatile enough to play every position except catcher in the major leagues. For these reasons, it seemed like Lotte had recruited a player who would properly turn the situation around. Of course, until you open the lid.

Although they play the same baseball, there are clear differences between the US and KBO leagues. There are many factors to adapt to, including the strike zone and the angle of pitchers’ breaking balls. However, with over 130 at-bats, he must now finish adjusting to the KBO league, and Goodrum’s performance is very disappointing. As of the end of the game on the 4th, Goodrum’s season batting average was 0.271, which certainly doesn’t look bad, but his OPS is only 0.682. That’s why he didn’t hit a single home run in 31 games.

It is true that Gudrum is not a home run hitter, but the fact that he did not hit a single arch in 31 games is a serious problem. The batting average also seems very high, but it definitely doesn’t feel like he’s playing the role of a ‘solver’ when ‘a hit’ is needed. His offensive ability is also disappointing, but the bigger problem is his defensive ability. It begs the question of how he survived six seasons in the major leagues and was named a finalist for the 2020 American League Gold Glove Award.

Gudrum started playing in Lotte uniform from the beginning of the second half, and his errors were as many as 9, ranking him tied for 21st in the league. If he played a full season, his error rate would be a whopping 41.8 pace. This figure is far higher than what Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos, currently 26 errors), who is recording the most errors this season, made during the full season (35 errors). Mistakes are being made in various situations, including throws and catches.

Lotte won 4-3 in the 13th home game of the season against the Doosan Bears held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 4th. In the process of scoring four points, Goodrum clearly contributed to the team. However, he almost lost the team’s victory due to a defensive error. Lotte officials are also repeatedly unable to hide their embarrassment at this unexpected and disappointing situation.

The recruitment of Goodrum, who joined forces to advance to the postseason, is currently leading to ‘failure’. As he has not been able to hit a single home run and his defense continues to be shaky, it does not seem very likely that Goodrum will wear Lotte’s uniform again in the 2024 season.