“We’re hopeful enough.”
Lotte Giants manager Larry Sutton smiled after a second straight rainout. Lotte had its game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 23rd canceled due to rain. It was the second consecutive game to be canceled. The Giants, who have been traveling in the Seoul metropolitan area since last weekend’s three-game series against the 토토사이트 Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok, will not play a game for three consecutive days starting Monday, a day off. The team has also adjusted its starting rotation. Aaron Wilkerson, who was expected to start for LG Electronics, was kept on the bench for two consecutive days and will finally start against KT Wiz at home on April 25.
Sutton didn’t seem too worried about the cancellation for the second day in a row. “It will help us in this situation. It’s a team situation. Before yesterday’s game was canceled, we hadn’t had a game canceled in five weeks. Earlier in the season, we had a lot of rainouts, but during the rainy season, we were able to avoid them. If we don’t play now, our pitchers and hitters will have plenty of time to recover,” he said.
Instead, Sutton called a team meeting on the 22nd, the day the game was canceled, to deliver his message. Lotte had a roller-coaster week last week, picking up the pace again with a three-game sweep of the SSG Landers at home, only to be swept by Kiwoom in Gochuk, but there is still hope. They’re currently in seventh place, but they’re only two games back of fifth-place Doosan and three games back of fourth-place NC. They can still climb back into the top half of the standings at any time.
Coach Sutton also told the players, “We have 40 games left. It’s the last third. We’re going to be tired, we’re going to be exhausted, but we’re at a point where other teams are tired too. We have enough hope and we can go up. We just have to have a good balance of focus and stay focused on the game day by day.”
Sutton added: “I think this is the point where the fans enjoy it the most. Our recent form hasn’t been bad, so it’s definitely possible.”