KIA Nails Shaking After 5th Inning… Manager Lee Beom-ho: “Need to Change Pattern”
KIA Tigers ace James Nail showed off his perfect form through the 4th inning in the away game against the LG Twins held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 9th.
He pitched a perfect game, not allowing a single batter to get on base until he allowed a runner to get on base due to a defensive error with one out in the 4th inning.
However, Nail was somewhat shaken after the 5th inning.
He got the win thanks to the support of the batting line, but it was a disappointing pitching performance.
Nail, who is second in the KBO League in ERA (2.86), has a tendency to give up a lot of hits after the 4th or 5th inning.
He is extremely powerful until the batting order goes around once, but he starts to falter after a certain number of pitches.
KIA manager Lee Beom-ho is keeping an eye on this phenomenon.
The manager said ahead of the away game against LG on the 10th at the same venue, "It doesn't seem like they're losing their pitches and collapsing," but "It seems like the catchers' ball distribution and patterns will need to change after the 4th inning."
He continued, "If the player feels that it's difficult, I'm thinking of giving him a break by taking him out of the starting rotation once."
As Nail is a player who can have a decisive impact on KIA's challenge for the championship, the team is putting a lot of effort into managing him.
Coach Lee Beom-ho said, "In fact, Nail wanted to play in this All-Star game (as a coach's recommended player)," and added, "However, I tried to appease the player by explaining that he had to start in the first game of the second half before the All-Star game. https://bitbin.it/mvyHj9O9/ I felt very sorry."
He continued, "Nail understands various situations and is doing his job," expressing his gratitude.