Finally the return of the national left-hander after 689 days, there was no free on-base...KIA will make a calculation
Aug 17, 2025
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It was as evaluated by KIA Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho. Lee Eui-ri pitched for the first time since returning to Tommy John surgery. If this kind of pitch continues, KIA can gain more momentum in the semifinal fight.
Lee Eui-ri started against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 16th and allowed seven strikeouts and two runs in six innings with 75 pitches, six hits and no four outs. It was the first quality start in 689 days since the match against Changwon NC Dinos (seven scoreless innings) on September 27, 2023. It's been quite a while considering I had Tommy John surgery in June last year. It was also encouraging that he did not allow free on-base hits with walks and pitches for the first time in five games.
He combined fastballs (36), sliders (15), splitters (10), curves (10), and changeups (4), and tied Doosan's batters well. When the game did not go well after returning, the fastball control was usually shaken, but on this day, the breaking ball was also effective as the fastball went in well. The maximum fastball speed was 153km and the average speed was 149km.
The only flaw is that KIA's batting lineup did not help me terribly. Doosan had a bad news when starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong was replaced by a broken left index finger nail in two innings, but KIA had a hard time because it failed to target the ball of rookie Yoon Tae-ho, who took the mound in a hurry. Yoon Tae-ho's fastball is good enough to record 2,600 rpm (rotations per minute), but KIA hitters have rarely adapted to the new pitcher's ball, even though he has relatively weak breaking balls.
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KIA has maintained its fifth place with 53 wins, 4 draws and 52 losses in the season despite its second consecutive loss. It is 1.5 games apart from the fourth-place SSG Landers, while the sixth-place KT Wiz and the seventh-place NC Dinos are trailing by one game.
There is a bullpen in the background of the 5th round in jeopardy. The bullpen's ERA in the second half of the year is 5.20, ranking ninth. It's been a while since Jung Hae-young (7.71) and Jo Sang-woo (10.13) shook together. The burden on the two pitchers in the first half of the year has been on the decline in the second half.
In order to prevent bullpen overload, it is important for starters to endure long innings first. KIA had no choice but to increase the bullpen burden as Adam Oler and Yoon Young-chul (season out) left for a longer period. Lee Eui-ri returned at the beginning of the second half, but as the number of pitches has to be increased step by step from the 60th pitch, bullpen pitchers have to take on multiple innings.
With Oler quite a bit of pace back in two games after his return, KIA will be able to play more calculated baseball if he can pitch more than six innings until Lee Eui-ri. While watching another disastrous bullpen collapse, Lee Eui-ri's good pitching was a glimmer of hope.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
