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| Sportschosun DB |
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How did nails evolve into starting pitchers.
The KIA Tigers are having a tough early season. The evaluation of 'absolute first place' is overshadowed, and as of the 16th, it has fallen to 8 wins, 11 losses, and 8th place. Starting with Kim Do-young, who became a 'superstar', the atmosphere is not reviving due to the main players' line injuries.
However, just looking at this player makes me smile big. A.C.E nail for foreigners. A nail game gives a feeling that he will win no matter what. It boasts that powerful ball power. Other team coaches and coaches are also fighting enemies, but they admit nails. Manager Lee Kang-chul of KT, a pitcher expert, said "All foreign pitchers are good this year, but I think nails are the most stable." he evaluated. Similarly, Hanwha pitching coach Yang Sang-moon, who is recognized as a "master" in the pitcher's part, explained, "He is a player on another team, but he has to admit his nails."
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| KT-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 15th. Nails cheer as shortstop Park Chan-ho handled Kim Min-hyuk's ball with a good defense in the top of the sixth inning. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.4.15/ |
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The record tells us. It has only won two games in five games since the opening. But it's just that Seung-woon didn't follow. The content is overwhelming. He pitched 31 innings in five games and allowed only one run. The only loss was one against the Lotte Giants on the 9th. He has a whopping 0.29 ERA. Continuing the legend 'Symbolic Face' Other than former Tigers Legend coach Sun Dong-yeol, there was no player with an ERA of 0 points.
It is a quality start in four out of five games. He played seven innings in the second and six innings in the second. The other game is the opening game against the NC Dinos. He only pitched five innings to manage the number of pitches. It wasn't that I couldn't record a quality start because I wasn't good at it.
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| KT-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 15th. KIA nail is making a national courtesy. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.4.15/ |
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There is not a single home run. He has never exceeded two four pitches in a game. The hit rate is 173, and the on-base allowed rate per inning is 0.81. It is a record that would not be strange even if it won all five games.
Following Pedi (St. Louis), who caused the sweeper craze in the KBO League last year. The angle of bending from the right-handed batter's body to the outside is enormous. It's a 'magical' that you don't even know. The sweeper looks more powerful this year. There is no ordinary fastball here. The two-seam fastball, which bends toward the right-handed batter's body, is 150km, making it too difficult for the batter to cope.
Here's another secret weapon. It's change-up. He devoted himself to improving the level of completion in the U.S. throughout the winter. The proportion of curves is also increasing. It's hard to hit with two-seam and sweeper alone, but the change-up improves, so hitters are dying.
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| KIA starter Nail is pitching hard in a game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 9th. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.04.09/ |
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How is KIA manager Lee Bum-ho looking at nails in the 'Invincible' mode this year. Lee joined the KBO League last year after playing as an intermediate pitcher in the U.S. Major League Baseball. Suddenly trying to throw a lot of innings as a starter, I think there was a burden to play the innings. Last year, he definitely lost strength in 70 to 80 pitches. He said that a lot, too. But he prepared quickly after the end of last season. as a starter. Right now, even 90 to 100 units are not running out of power."
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| KT-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 15th. KIA won the game 1-0. Nail, who pitched six scoreless innings, is making a high five with head coach Lee Bum-ho. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.4.15/ |
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Director Lee went on to "Learn to change up." Sweeper, I think he thought it was hard to fight with just two-seam. So I tested changeups and curves more than sweeper in spring camp and exhibition games. So then 'nails got worse. There was even a saying that 'Isn't something wrong?' It was a process to throw better pitches in the regular season."
Finally, coach Lee said, `We are reducing the number of balls and playing a lot of innings. However, regardless of the number of pitches, if the number of innings increases, the pitcher may feel burdened. We are closely checking those areas. I will take good care of my nails so that they can throw the ball without injury or physical degradation during the season," he stressed.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
