Why expectations have risen despite the limit of "not throwing 100 pitches" and counting the number of KIA foreigners returning "maximum 149km."
Why expectations have risen despite the limit of "not throwing 100 pitches" and counting the number of KIA foreigners returning "maximum 149km."
Blog Article
The Kia Tigers' foreign ace James Nail (31) is close to returning to the real game. With the possibility of starting the first team in the Korean Series, KT Wiz's stellar performance in the fall baseball season is raising expectations for Nail's return.
Since the 4th, KIA has started training in earnest to prepare for the 2024 KBO Korean Series at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. After a sweet break on the 3rd, a total of 54 players, including 19 coaching staff including manager Lee Bum-ho, 16 pitchers, 3 catchers, 9 infielders and 7 outfielders, came good news.
According to an official of Kia's team, Nail started pitching live on Wednesday. It was her first training session with a batter standing at the batter's box. Her speed was up to 149 kilometers per hour, and she threw a total of 33 pitches. She threw 18 fastballs in the first set, and 15 fastballs in the second set, including sweeper, change-up and cutter, to check all pitches that she can throw.
It has been about six weeks since he suffered a major injury called a jaw joint fracture after being hit by a training ball against Changwon NC on the 24th of last month. At that time, the nail was bleeding so much that it required urgent surgery, and he only focused on recovery for a while after undergoing jaw joint fixation in a day. Fortunately, the bone was not shattered, but broken to a minimum in a straight line, causing shock only to both jaw joints and removing the prosthesis that was fixing the bone on September 11. He started the Interval Throwing Program (ITP) from September 12, and increased the number of pitches to 60 to 80 by the end of the season.
"Given the current situation, I think Nail can throw the first game of the Korean Series. The second and third games are also in the first and second and third days anyway, and given the severity of injuries, I think I will be able to join the Korean Series without any problems," KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said on April 26.
On Sept. 30, he said, "Nails weren't meant to take long innings. During the season, throwing 70 to 80 pitches would make me feel less powerful, so I just want him to take responsibility for five innings. I don't think I will throw as many as 100 pitches (even if I take the mound in the Korean Series)," he said.
Realistically, it is impossible to expect more than 100 pitches in a return game in two months after suffering a major injury such as a broken jaw. At the same time, it is true that the postseason has something to be desired as the ace's all-out pitching can determine the atmosphere of the series. That was the case with William Cuevas, who brought the mood of the series by pitching 103 pitches without allowing six innings in a wild card game between Doosan and KT on Sunday.
KT, however, showed high expectations for Nail's appearance in the ensuing game. Wes Benjamin, who played in the second round of the wild card game on Thursday, was relatively bad for Doosan, and Ko Young-pyo, who played in the first round of the semi-playoff game against LG on Thursday, was limited in the number of pitches due to frequent appearances recently.
He filled the handicap with a hard bullpen. Ko Young-pyo (1 inning) and Park Young-hyun (1 inning) were deployed despite Benjamin's throwing 88 pitches in the game on Saturday, and Kim Min-soo (2 innings), Son Dong-hyun (1 inning), So Hyung-joon (1 inning) and Park Young-hyun (1 inning) took the mound in succession even though Ko was in charge of only four innings in 56 pitches in the game on Sunday. 안전놀이터
Kia has a bullpen as good as KT. Starting with save No. 1 Jung Hae-young, there are bullpen pitchers such as Jang Hyun-sik, Jeon Sang-hyun, and Kwak Do-gyu who can take responsibility for more than one inning depending on the situation. Rather, Kia can come up with a more solid plan if manager Lee Bum-ho draws the line coolly. Also, in the fall baseball where every point is important, overwhelming pitching is needed to block even five innings without losing a point, rather than a pitcher who starts quality of six innings with three runs, and the nail polish during the regular season was such a pitcher.