Lotte's replacement of foreign pitchers was a huge success. He was a pitcher with an ERA of 6 (6.51) in Triple-A, but he changed to a point range (1.69) in Korea. Aaron Wilkerson (34), who came to Lotte as an alternative foreign pitcher, emerged as the savior of the team that did not give up hope for the fifth round.
Wilkerson started against Hanwha in Daejeon on August 31 and led Lotte to a 5-2 victory with five hits, one out, 10 strikeouts and two runs (no earned) in six innings. Since his KBO League debut, he has thrown 113 pitches, the most, leading Lotte to escape seven consecutive losses. It was also the first win under acting coach Lee Jong-un since Larry Sutton stepped down.
Before the game, acting coach Lee Jong-un said of Wilkerson, "He is a good pitcher with pitching." You can throw in and out a ball or two. "It will not be easy for opponents to hit," he said. Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho also expressed caution, saying, "When a wide-zone referee sees the referee, it is difficult to hit," adding, "The quick motion is also very fast at 1 second."
Judge Jeon Il-soo, who served as the referee on the day, looked broadly and Wilkerson had wings. Hanwha batters' bats followed the ball that was slightly off the left and right border lines. The command that actively utilized the referee's wide zone shone.
His fastball velocity reached a maximum of 150 kilometers, but he averaged 145 kilometers, not a fiery fastball. But I hid the ball Hanwha batters who faced each other for the first time were very unfamiliar because of their good deception movement. The high fastball coming in at eye level kept the bat spinning. Six out of 10 strikeouts were fastballs. On top of that, he caught him off guard with a curve that increased his pitching rate from the previous six games. Roh Si-hwan, who won first place in the home run, also struck out with a hook and swing on Wilkerson's curves in the first and third innings, respectively.
In the third inning, he gave up two runs due to a series of defensive errors, including his first base check. Wilkerson, who did not lose an additional point by overcoming the crisis of one out and runners on first and second bases in the fourth inning and two outs in the sixth inning, succeeded in his fifth quality start in seven games.
Wilkerson, who joined Lotte as a substitute for Dan Straley, has been playing with a 3-1 loss and a 1.69 ERA in seven games since his debut against Doosan in Jamsil on July 26. He pitched 42 ⅔ innings and struck out 42 and allowed only six walks. WHIP 0.96, hit rate of 219. All seven games have been stable, with three earned runs or less. Perhaps due to the effect of last year's Japanese professional baseball experience, the quick motion is also fast, so there is no permission to steal bases.
Wilkerson had five wins, four losses and a 4.08 ERA in 14 games (70 ⅔ innings) last year for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. He also showed impact to the extent that he was selected as the monthly MVP (3 wins, 1 loss, 1.04) in May, but his performance has declined since June. In August, he failed to control his condition due to COVID-19 confirmation, and finished the season in the second division.
Wilkerson, who returned to the U.S. after failing to renew his contract with Hanshin, signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics. He struggled with three wins, two losses and a 6.51 ERA in 14 games (6 starts, 47 innings) for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. Considering that it is the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which is notorious for its high pitching, its performance was not good, but it completely dispelled concerns in Korea. 바카라사이트
Wilkerson said, "In Triple A, we had difficulty adapting to new rules such as robot referee and pitch clock. I said, "It's so nice to be able to play 'Real Baseball' in Korea," but it quickly proves that that's not a lie. Lotte is in seventh place, five games behind fifth-place KIA, but has not given up on autumn baseball yet, and Wilkerson is at the center of it. Lotte has five wins and two losses and a winning rate of 714 percent in seven games played by Wilkerson.