No. 1 disgraced player and KIA will sink...9th place is closer, will we find a breakthrough in the 5th round that has become slimmer

Sep 01, 2025

No. 1 disgraced player and KIA will sink...9th place is closer, will we find a breakthrough in the 5th round that has become slimmer
KBO League SSG and KIA match held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 27th. KIA Jung Hae-young, who took the mound in the seventh inning, is coming down the mound after pitching a scoreless pitch. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.27/



KIA Tigers have lost again. Closer Jung Hae-young was also fatally injured after collapsing in a game where the team dramatically won.

KIA lost the game against Suwon KT Wiz 6-7 on the 31st of last month. KIA, which has lost two consecutive games in a row, finished eighth in the season with 57 wins, 4 draws and 61 losses. It is 3.5 games behind the fifth-ranked Samsung Lions and 2.5 games behind the ninth-ranked Doosan Bears. If this continues, the fall of the 9th place will be instant.

KIA dreamed of a come-from-behind victory by making a three-run big inning in the top of the eighth inning, trailing 3-4. Kim Seok-hwan's sacrifice fly and Kim Kyu-sung's first career inside the park home run scored two more runs, heating up the atmosphere. 6-4 lead. Starting pitcher Yang Hyun-jong allowed only four runs in four ⅓ innings, but Cho Sang-woo (1 ⅔ inning), Sung Young-tak (1 inning) and Jeon Sang-hyun (1 inning) held on without losing a point until the 8th inning. If only the ninth inning was blocked, KIA could take care of the winning series.




KIA manager Lee Bum-ho trusted Jung Hae-young to finish again, but the result was the worst. Jung Hae-young began to twist when Hwang Jae-kyun was walked straight with two outs and a runner on the first base. Jang Sung-woo hit a timely hit to the left, and fought Kim Sang-soo up to the eighth pitch, but was defeated by a timely two-run double to the right. ⅔Three runs in three innings, came back from reorganization in the second division and collapsed again in three games.

Jung Hae-young has 52 games, 2-7, 26 saves, 54 innings and a 4.17 ERA this season. WHIP (the number of on-base allowed per inning) is 1.57 and the hit rate is 0.309. It's hard to believe the closer's performance.

In particular, Jung Hae-young struggled very hard in 11 games in the second half with three losses, three saves, nine ⅔ innings and an 8.38 ERA. It's already been a month since I made my last save.




No. 1 disgraced player and KIA will sink...9th place is closer, will we find a breakthrough in the 5th round that has become slimmer
A game between KT and KIA at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 31st. KIA closer Jung Hae-young pitches in the ninth inning. Suwon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.31/
No. 1 disgraced player and KIA will sink...9th place is closer, will we find a breakthrough in the 5th round that has become slimmer
The game between KT and KIA at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 31st. KT Kim Sang-soo hit a come-from-behind walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning. KIA closer Jung Hae-young, who allowed a turnaround in the bottom of the ninth inning. Suwon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.31/
Every time KIA suffered a fatal upset or walk-off loss in the second half, Jung Hae-young was on the mound. This is why head coach Lee canceled Jung Hae-young from the first-team entry on the 17th of last month and gave her 10 days to cool down.

Coach Lee said at the time, `I'm the one who has to win now, and the players are running hard in this scorching sun to win now. In that sense, I personally think that the closer should be more attached to his position and throw it. He strongly said, "I hope to have passion again when it's time to watch how we play if we lose ourselves for 10 days."

Both Jung Hae-young and KIA can be embarrassed by repeated failures. Jung Hae-young joined KIA with the first nomination in 2020 and won the closing pitcher in 2021. He recorded 147 saves in his career, surpassing Tigers Legend Sun Dong-yeol's 132 saves to rank No. 1 in the club's all-time saves. Jung Hae-young, who has already lost seven games this year, is disgraced as the league's most losing bullpen pitcher.




KIA has only 22 games left this season. The competition teams in the top five are also making a last-minute spurt. Unless KIA has a huge winning streak, it is not easy to enter the top five again. In the midst of this, I even have a serious concern about whether I should continue to trust the closer. Coach Lee said, "What kind of answer will we find now that both Jung Hae-young and KIA are sinking.

No. 1 disgraced player and KIA will sink...9th place is closer, will we find a breakthrough in the 5th round that has become slimmer
KIA won the game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 7th with a score of 6-5. Jung Hae-young is happy after the game. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.07/




This article was translated by Naver AI translator.