James Nail (KIA Tigers), who returned from injury, is continuously displaying good pitching in warm-up matches. This is good news for Kia, which is aiming to win its 12th Korean Series title in its career.
Nail started in an exhibition game against the Lotte Giants held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Sunday. Nail pitched three innings and allowed only one hit, while striking out four.토토사이트
Nails who threw a total of 31 balls mostly checked their conditions by spraying their main weapons, namely two-seam fastballs and sweeper. On the day, she played cut fastballs and changeups, as well as two types of pitches. She has almost recovered her speed. The maximum speed of her nails on the day was 150 kilometers.
It is an exhibition game, but the team has displayed good pitching in two consecutive games. This is good news for Kia. At an exhibition game with Sangmu on Sunday, as the starting pitcher, he faced nine batters during two innings, hitting one homer and allowing one run. On the day, Nail recovered her form by throwing fastballs with the maximum speed of 151 kilometers per hour.
Nail suffered a dizzying injury in the 2024 professional baseball NC Dinos match at Changwon NC Park in South Gyeongsang Province on August 24 when she was hit on the chin by an opposing batter. In the bottom of the sixth inning, NC foreign hitter Matt Davidson hit a 142km cutter on the fourth pitch thrown by Nail, which headed toward Nail’s face.
KIA manager Lee Bum-ho immediately replaced his nail with bullpen Kwak Do-gyu. Afterwards, he underwent surgery to fix his jaw joint and sweated through rehabilitation to play in the Korean Series.
Nail did not forget her team even during rehabilitation. She also held a surprise event for fans before the game against the Kiwoom Heroes held at her home in Gwangju on June 6.
He only revealed himself as a “special pitchman” and covered his face with a mask and sunglasses before taking the mound. After the first pitch, Nail made public her face, and Kia fans who recognized her responded with cheers.
Although he couldn’t play due to injury during the season, he also ranked No. 1 in ERA in the KBO league in the 2024 season. Nail pitched 149 ⅓ innings in 26 games this season, recording 12 wins, 5 losses and 2.54 ERA. Ranked second on the list was NC`s foreign pitcher Kyle Hart with 2.69 ERA.
If Nail’s condition improves steadily, there is a high possibility that she will take the starting mound in Game 1 of the Korean Series on the 21st. KIA is expected to set up a starting lineup with Nail, Yang Hyun and Eric Lauer, while Yoon Young-chul, Kim Do-hyun and Hwang Dong-ha will be selected as the fourth starting line.
Yoon Dong-hee, Na Seung-yeop, Son Ho-young, and Hwang Sung-bin, who were the main players of this season, all played for Lotte, which was the opponent team in the warm-up match on the day. Yang Hyeon-jong, who took over from Nail, allowed five hits and two runs in three innings. KIA then checked pitches of must-win group consisting of Jang Hyun-sik, Jeon Sang-hyun and Jeong Hae-young.
Among the hitters, Kim Do-young and Han Jun-su hit home runs to save their sense. KIA will end its two-week training camp with the last match between Blue and White on the 18th.