A revival of folkball magicians? 346 days of great performance → I got my eye on it!At the last moment, he rattles off.
Apr 03, 2025
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Lotte Giants' Na Kyun-an pitched hard against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ball Park on the 3rd with five hits, two walks and two runs in five ⅓ innings.
The dancing folk ball from its heyday two years ago is back. Na Kyun-an, a former national ball catcher from Yongma High School, finally stood tall as a full-time starter in 2023 after a breathless adaptation period after turning to a pitcher in 2020. He played 23 games and 130 ⅓ innings, close to the regular innings, with a 6-8 record and a 3.80 ERA.
If there were no personal history caught up in the offseason, how much would it have grown. Na Kyun-an, who was embroiled in rumors, fell out of control last year. He was hit hard by controversy on each walk, with four wins and seven losses, an 8.51 ERA, and even a drinking party early in the morning on the day of the starting lineup. In the end, the club was disciplined itself and quietly returned at the end of the season, but Lotte's fall baseball was frustrated.
In the early days of the pitcher's conversion, Na Kyun-an received high marks for his stability in using sophisticated ball control, including fastballs and cut fastballs in the mid-140km range and various breaking balls.
However, Na Kyun-an was reborn as a real starting pitcher when he was equipped with a fork ball that was about 'magoo'. At that time, Na Kyun-an was the best fork bowler recognized by Cho Jung-hoon. On top of that, the fastball speed was raised to more than 150 kilometers.
After a dark period last year, he has fully strengthened himself in the offseason. It was not very good in the spring camp and exhibition games, but head coach Kim Tae-hyung decided to give Na Kyun-an a chance first as the fifth starter.
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It was even better on this day. There was never a three-way withdrawal, but the sense of stability was different.
The total number of pitches was 98, and the ratio of fastballs (38) and folk balls (37) was similar. However, in addition to the two pitches, he shook batters' eyesight by mixing cut fastballs (13) and curves (10). The maximum speed of the fastball was 149km and the cut fastball was 143km. Even though it was a showdown with Hanwha ace Ponce, he was not shaken.
After two outs in the first inning, he allowed a walk to Floral and a heavy hit to Lim Jong-chan after two outs in the second inning, but it ended up sporadic.
In the third inning, Hwang Young-mook's hit and An Chi-hong's walk after one out faced a crisis with one out and runners on first and second bases, but he drew a series of infield ground balls to Floral-Noh Si-hwan, blocking well without losing a run.
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In the meantime, Lotte won two points first in the attack in the top of the fifth inning, giving it a chance to become a winning pitcher.
However, he failed to overcome the crisis in the bottom of the sixth inning. When Roh Si-hwan, the first batter, allowed a hit, pitching coach Joo Hyung-kwang came to the mound. Na Kyun-an aimed for a quality start (QS, more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs).
The next batter, Chae Eun-sung, is a foul fly to first base. However, Kim Tae-yeon allowed a hit, making it 1st and 2nd base with one out, and he couldn't hold on anymore due to the number of pitches.
The next pitcher Song Jae-young allowed an RBI double to Hanwha Lee Jin-young, and Park Jin stopped Moon Hyun-bin with a ground ball to the first base, but the winning pitcher unfortunately flew away as the third baseman homered.
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Although he failed to win a quality start in 346 days, Na Kyun-an's position as a fifth starter is unlikely to be shaken for the time being. This is all the more so because Park Jin-i and Park Joon-woo, who were rivals, are playing as trustmen in Lotte's bullpen.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
