Finally, ‘The Left-Right Lion’ is back. Due to a problem with his pitching form, he was sluggish throughout April, but he showed off his perfect pitching while regaining his original form.

Charlie Barnes started in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League Doosan Bears season 4 home match held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 10th and struggled with 99 pitches, 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts and no runs in 6⅔ innings, season 2 got the win.

Barnes was not inferior to being called Lotte’s ‘ace’ last year. Due to team circumstances, he easily digested the 4-day break, pitched in a total of 31 games, and played 186⅓ innings, recording 12 wins and 12 losses with an average ERA of 3.62. From Lotte’s point of view, there was no reason not to renew the contract, and the 2023 season was also able to accompany Barnes. However, at the beginning of this year, Barnes’ appearance was unfamiliar.

Barnes was very sluggish with an average ERA of 7.36 and 1 loss in 3 demonstration games. Of course, as it was only an exhibition game, there were high expectations that he would show a rebound in the regular season. However, Barnes continued to pitch disappointingly even after the season began. He collapsed after giving up 4 runs in 4⅓ innings in his first appearance of the season and giving up 8 runs in 5 ⅔ innings in his second appearance.

Barnes got his first victory amidst twists and turns by recording 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings in a confrontation with NC Dinos on the 22nd of last month, but on the 28th against Kiwoom Heroes, he left a regret of 2 runs (2 earned) in 4 innings. The reason for Barnes’ sluggishness was clear. He changed the location of his glove position in his off-season set position, which also affected pitching, such as the angle of his arm.

Coach Larry Sutton told Arthur about the game on the 10th, “Barnes and Strayley are players who work very hard. I want him to show a competitive image,” he said. “Whether it’s the 4th, 5th, or 6th, we’ll have to play, but Barnes will show a strong image.” 메이저놀이터

Fifth appearance of the season. Barnes finally fired the flare of resurrection. On this day, the pitching was really not superfluous. From the start of the first inning, Barnes tied Doosan’s top batting line, which was connected to Su-bin Jung, Jose Rojas, and Jae-hwan Kim, in a three-way attack. Even the biggest crisis has passed. In the second inning, Barnes was driven to first and second base safely with a walk from lead batter Yang Eui-ji and a hit from Yang Seok-hwan, but ended the inning with no runs by turning all subsequent batters around.

After overcoming a major crisis, Barnes was close to perfect. Barnes struck out by throwing a 145km fastball with a winning shot to Lee Yoo-chan in the third inning, struck out Sue-bin with a shortstop ground ball, and struck out a 144km fastball to Rojas, marking the second tripartite strikeout. In addition, in the 4th inning, despite allowing lead batter Kim Jae-hwan an infield hit, he did not waver and continued his scoreless streak with two strikeouts.

Barnes completely blocked Yang Chan-yeol, Park Gye-beom, and Lee Yoo-chan in the 5th inning, and Su-bin Jeong, Lohas, and Kim Jae-hwan in the 6th inning, completing a quality start (6 innings with 3 earned runs or less), and after making two out counts in the 7th inning, 2 out 1 I went down the mound from base. The Lotte fans, who filled the first base crowd at Sajik Stadium, poured out warm applause and cheers for Barnes, who delivered a perfect pitch.

Of course, it can stop at sparkling activity. But compared to his start in April, Barnes has definitely improved noticeably. The day before (9th), Strayley recorded his first quality start of the season, and on the 10th, Barnes pitched a scoreless pitch, and the Lotte starting mound is gradually stabilizing.