Curve + Slider Missing → 3G consecutive ball control difficulties...The head coach warned Na Kyun-an

Jun 01, 2025

Curve Slider Missing → 3G consecutive ball control difficulties...The head coach warned Na Kyun-an
KBO League Lotte and LG match held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 21st. 3rd base with 2 outs in the 5th inning. Lotte's Na Kyun-an, who allows a run due to a defensive error at first base when Koo Bon-hyuk hits an infield grounder. Busan = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.05.21/



Curve Slider Missing → 3G consecutive ball control difficulties...The head coach warned Na Kyun-an
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
"There are too many balls. Even the fielders who threw like yesterday get tired. You can change positions."

It is the greatest virtue of a starting pitcher to fill five innings somehow. However, what if he is a starting pitcher who consumes 100 pitches in five innings every time he takes the mound.

It is a story of Na Kyun-an (27) of the Lotte Giants. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung, who met at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 1st, frowned on Na Kyun-an's pitch the previous day, saying, `There are too many balls.'




Na Kyun-an was replaced after scoring four runs in five innings in Game 2 of the weekend series against SSG Landers.

The superficial record itself is plausible, but he gave up six walks while allowing four hits, including a home run.

Both SSG (6 hits) and Lotte (5 hits) were empty hits, so Na Kyun-an's presence was greater. In particular, in the top of the fourth inning, he allowed four walks without a hit, and Han Yu-sum's two-run timely hit became a decisive hit.




Curve Slider Missing → 3G consecutive ball control difficulties...The head coach warned Na Kyun-an
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
This season's ERA is now close to five points (4.94). In each of the last three games, he has allowed six runs in five ⅔ innings and four runs in five innings (three earned runs), all of which have exceeded 100 pitches.

The chase made the pitch simpler and simpler. Na Kyun-an was already a pitcher with various breaking balls that did not fit the modifier 'Aw from the catcher' in 2021, when he stood out on the first-team mound. The blade control that cleverly utilizes the zone edge through natural pitching foam stood out.

However, the proportion of folk balls has risen too much since last year. Now, he is actually a fastball-forkball two-pitch pitcher. In the previous day's match against SSG, folk balls (45), along with up to 148km fastballs (44) and cut fastballs (13), accounted for most. The slider that was once used as the main weapon was completely missing, and there were only three curves.




Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "The narrow range of pitches for pitchers who can throw various balls is that they cannot afford on the mound as much as they can."

Curve Slider Missing → 3G consecutive ball control difficulties...The head coach warned Na Kyun-an
photo courtesy of Lotte Giants
He "I like Kim Jin-wook's ball these days. If Na Kyun-an continues to do that, he may change positions with Kim Jin-wook. "The direct ball is up to 148,149 kilometers." In the past, since I was a starter, I guess it was because I was distributing my pace...It may last several innings, but you have to throw all your energy like that in the beginning," he stressed.

On this day, Lotte registered Park Jin in the first team and canceled catcher Park Jae-yeop instead. In other words, bullpen longman resources have increased by one. Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, `Except for left-handed pitchers (Jeong Hyun-soo and Song Jae-young), Kim Kang-hyun seems a little tired these days. I think you can share your role with Park Jin," he added.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.