Eric Lauer, a new foreign pitcher who replaced Cam Aldred as the starting member of the KIA Tigers for the rest of the season, received a failing score in his KBO league debut.
He started Game 12 of the season against the Samsung Lions in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank 토토사이트 KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 11th and recorded seven hits (two homers) with two strikeouts and four runs in three ⅓ innings.
The number of pitches he pitched was 75, followed by cutter (32), fastball (28), curveball (9), change-up (5), and slider (1). The maximum speed and average speed of fastball were 151 km/h and 147 km/h, respectively.
He got off to a good start. At the top of the first inning, Lauer shut out the batters, which were led by Kim Ji-chan, Kim Heon-gon, and Koo Ja-wook, allowing no run in the first inning. He pitched just 12 pitches. In addition, his batters scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning alone, relieving Lauer’s burden.
However, the mood did not last long. Lauer was shaken by a solo shot by leadoff hitter Kang Min-ho in the top of the second inning, and after Kim Young-woong’s strikeout, he allowed a walk and a stolen base to Lee Jae-hyun. He lost another run after being hit by a double by Park Byung-ho with one out and runners on second base.
Ryu Ji-hyuk’s ground ball to the first base made it with two outs, but he even dedicated the big inning with Lee Sung-kyu’s RBI timely hit after the game of seven pitches with two outs and third base. Right fielder Na Sung-beom and second baseman Kim Sun-bin did not play smoothly, and the ball fell to the ground, leading to a hit.
Lauer, who ended the inning without allowing any additional runs, made up for his disappointment by pitching a scoreless pitch in the top of the third inning, but failed to pass the fourth inning. After leading hitter Lee Jae-hyun’s strikeout in the top of the fourth inning, Park Byung-ho’s solo shot to the left showed signs of instability, causing Ryu Ji-hyuk’s double and Lee Seong-gyu’s hit ball to cause a crisis of scoring rights. The KIA bench, which could no longer lead Lauer, called in left-hander Kim Dae-yu.
As a result, Lauer avoided defeat with the help of the batting lineup and the bullpen, but KIA, which lowered its starting pitcher early, had no choice but to consume a lot of bullpen resources. Lauer’s pitching number was planned before the game was about 8-90. From the team’s point of view, Lauer, who had played until the end of last month, hoped to take charge of five to six innings on the day, but the plan did not go as planned. The game, which lasted until the 11th inning, ended with Samsung’s 5-4 victory.
Samsung, who was Lauer’s debut opponent, was also burdensome, but on the other hand, he expressed confidence in that Lauer’s arrest, which had an injury history, was not fast. Before the game, Samsung manager Park Jin-man predicted, “Lauer’s ball is not as fast as I thought, but since he is a pitcher with good physical conditions and high RBIs, we will have to wait and see how the batters cope in that regard.”
It is difficult to judge whether Kia made the right choice just for its first pitch. However, the pitching content was less than expected. Kia also needs to reflect on the fact that Lauer was not able to display a pitch that could overwhelm the batter and that the pitcher was shaken sharply after losing his first point.
Up until just a few weeks ago, Kia was agonizing over whether to accompany Aldred. The conclusion was to replace him. The first reason was that the team needed an ace pitcher. The team also decided that Aldred could not afford to continue serving as the starting pitcher against right-handed hitters and to Aldred, who showed weak performance in the match against Samsung (8.22 ERA in seven ⅔ innings in two games).
However, in terms of his debut game, Lauer was not much different from Aldred. In the end, it is important to show a different side in the next game. In the rotation, Lauer will make his second start against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 17th.
KIA manager Lee Bum-ho once said, “We are trying to clearly grasp the strengths and weaknesses of our players through the two games (the match against Samsung on Wednesday and the match against LG on Thursday). It remains to be seen whether Lauer, who faced many challenges in the first game, will adapt to the KBO league.