After winning two games, Samsung Lions suffered eight consecutive losses. After suffering the worst slump, Samsung Lions showed a solid rebound. With six wins and two losses in the last eight games, the team is nearing a mid-ranking leap forward.

Samsung has eight wins, 10 losses and one draw as of now, with 19 matches. It is only a half-game difference between the LG Twins and the Hanwha Eagles, who are tied for fifth place. The dark cloud that had been hanging over the team with eight consecutive losses in the early days of the season has completely cleared up.

During the early days of the season, especially during the eight consecutive losses, Samsung faced an overall crisis. During the period (including one draw), it scored 25 points in nine games, failing to achieve an average of three points per game. The nickname "three-point Lions" was also the worst trend to live up to. In contrast, the pitching staff allowed 66 runs in nine games. Expecting victory felt like a fluke.

Ahead of the season, KT Wiz and Kiwoom Heroes' closing players Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min were brought in, and Oh Seung-hwan was protected, but he rarely had a chance to make full use of them. The mood was so serious that he had never taken the lead since the match against LG on April 27.

Lee Jae-hyun has been undergoing rehabilitation since shoulder surgery, Ryu Ji-hyuk suffered rehabilitation due to disarray injury in his left shoulder joint and Jeon Byung-woo suffered hamstring injury during sliding on Wednesday. Foreign hitter David McKinnon was away from Boston due to maternity leave.

Kim Seong-yoon, who performed very well last year, was removed from the roster after a severe slump, and Oh Jae-il, who has been experiencing ups and downs for two consecutive years, was eventually informed of his move to the second division. Kim Ji-chan (batting average of 0.219), who changed his position to the outfield, has not displayed his best performance in batting as well.

However, the team suddenly felt as if it were a different team. Starting with the match against the Kia Tigers on Wednesday last week, the team has achieved a five-game winning streak.

Thanks to the stellar batting lineup, the team has been on the rise. Samsung had six wins (two losses) in the recent eight games, while garnering 56 points. The average score is seven points per game, which shows how much the lineup has changed compared to the period when the team lost consecutive games (three points or less).

In particular, he enjoyed home runs. Last season, Samsung ranked eighth in this category with 88 homers. This season, he had 17 homers in 19 games, 13 in the latest eight games.

What's more encouraging is that the homeruns were not concentrated on specific hitters, but rather came from nine batters in an even manner. It is also good to see that most of the hitters were not classified as big guns.

The starting pitchers displayed disappointing performances. Won Tae-in lasted more than five innings twice, and Denny Reyes once, and their starters were all out early in the remaining five games. Still, the fact that he garnered six wins shows how strong the Samsung batters put out.

The bullpen session also played a significant role. The starting lineup collapsed quickly, but the bullpen session, including Oh Seung-hwan, Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min, held on well. Samsung's ERA this season was 5.48, ranking ninth, but the bullpen session showed much more stable performance at 4.67, compared to its 6.31 starting lineup.

By far, the Pil Seung-jo displayed outstanding performance. In nine games (10 innings), Oh had one win, two losses and three saves, ERA 2.70, Kim Jae-yoon had two wins, one loss and two holds, ERA 2.77 in 10 games (13 innings), and Lim Chang-min had four holds and ERA 0.84 in 10 games (10 ⅔ innings).

Choi Ha-neul, who had been classified as a starting resource, also gave up just one point in nine games (13 ⅓ innings) and pitched a salty game with an ERA of 0.68, while Kim Tae-hoon, who was traded last year, also rebounded with an ERA of 2.08 in 11 games (13 innings).

However, it is difficult to expect this trend to continue for how long. If there is a cycle in hitting and the bullpen continues to be overloaded, there may be a chain collapse flow.

After all, a solution must be found in the starting pitcher. As things stand now, a starting pitcher only needs to endure five innings. Even if a starting pitcher completes his or her mission at a time when his or her team is losing, he or she can change the game with strong firepower.

Except for Won Tae-in, who has had two wins and one loss with ERA of 3.38 in four games, there is no stable pitcher. Reyes and Seabold are suffering from slumps with ERA 5.31 and 6.86 respectively. It is comforting that Reyes pitched six scoreless innings in recent games.

With Baek Jung-hyun on the injured list, Lee Seung-min and Lee Ho-sung, who are filling the spot, have never been responsible for five innings in a total of five games.

There is no clear way to see it. We have no choice but to hope that the slump in the early part of the season was an adjustment period. If they play a minimal role as starting pitchers for more than five innings, they can seek victory with the power of the bullpen and batters.

However, no matter how strong the bullpen is and how strong the batters are, if the starters' slump is prolonged, it could lead to a chain collapse any time. Seabold will take the mound at a home game in Daegu on Tuesday. Park So-joon will take the mound for the first time this season as the opponent team's starting pitcher. As Seabold is fully responsible for five or more innings in an equal game, handing the ball to the bullpen is his top priority.

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