KIA Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho expressed satisfaction with the pitching by foreign pitcher James Nail, who made a successful start in his KBO league debut season. He expressed confidence, saying, “I have all the conditions to succeed in Korean baseball.”
Ahead of the third game of the season against the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League KT Wiz held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Thursday, coach Lee Bum-ho said, “I expect Nail to always pitch like the previous day’s game,” adding, “Nail herself is adjusting well to Korean baseball. Her pitching capability itself is a very good pitcher, and even if she throws more than 80 pitches, her fastball speed and sweeper have good rotation. “From the next game, I think she can throw regardless of the number of pitches she throws.”
Nail pitched well against KT on the 3rd, allowing five hits, eight strikeouts, and one run in six innings. The only loss was not due to a timely hit, but was also hit by runners on base in the bottom of the first inning with one out and runners on first and third bases. It led to the score of third baseman Cheonseong-ho because second baseman Kim Sun-bin failed to properly catch KIA catcher Kim Tae-gun’s throw to the second base during a double steal attempt by first baseman Kang Baek-ho and third baseman Cheonseong-ho.고소득알바
However, the team didn’t allow any more runs until the sixth inning. Notably, the power of the main weapon, the “sweeper,” was outstanding. KT hitters were helpless against the large angle sweeper that was bent horizontally.
Even KT manager Lee Kang-chul, the “enemy” said that Nail is better than Eric Peddy, who defeated the KBO League in the NC Dinos last year and left for the Major League.
In the 2023 season, he won the most wins, earned run average, and strikeouts with 180 ⅓ innings, 20 wins and six losses, 2.00 ERA, and 209 strikeouts in 30 games as a member of the NC Dinosaurs. With his fastball and sweeper combination in the mid to late 140 kilometers on average, he won the MVP of the regular season, Golden Glove in the pitcher category, and Choi Dong-won Award.
Nail was highly praised by manager Lee Kang-chul, one of the best pitching experts in the KBO league. In his official KBO league debut game against the Lotte Giants on April 27, he garnered five hits, one homer, one strikeout, nine strikeouts and one run in six innings, and gave a powerful impression to win the Korean pro baseball game for two consecutive games.
“I don’t know how powerful the nail sweeper will be because I don’t see it at bat,” manager Lee Bum-ho told reporters after hearing that Lee Kang-chul praised the nail sweeper. “I think it’s a huge level if there’s a story that the sweeper is about Peddy.”
Coach Lee Bum-ho also showed his unwavering faith when Nail was sluggish with eight hits, one walk, four strikeouts and six runs in three ⅓ innings in an exhibition game against the Doosan Bears on the 14th of last month. He emphasized that Nail is adapting to the KBO League as well as not giving much meaning to the results of the exhibition game.
“We need to give them time to adjust to Korean baseball. It is their first time to experience ABS (automatic pitching judgment system), so they will be affected psychologically,” Lee said. “The speed of the ball itself came out well regardless of the result (of the exhibition game on March 14). Catchers are also saying their ball power is okay, so they are not too worried.”
As soon as the regular season begins, Nail is displaying exactly what Kia and its coach Lee Bum-ho had been expecting. Nail is a foreign pitcher Kia has ambitiously recruited, dreaming of a leap forward in the 2024 season. He has been given a total of 700,000 dollars, including 200,000 dollars in down payment, 350,000 dollars in annual salary, and 150,000 dollars in options. He has invested a total of 950,000 dollars, including 250,000 dollars in transfer fees.
Nail is a right-handed, orthodox pitcher who is 193 centimeters tall and weighs 83 kilograms, and has an ERA of 7.40 holds in 17 games in total in the Major League. He had a record of five wins, three losses, three saves and a ERA of 3.66 in 31 games (three starts) at Triple-A last year, and wore a KIA uniform this year.
Coach Lee Bum-ho believes that Nail has all the conditions to succeed in the KBO league. He believes that he will be able to play the role of pillar of KIA’s starting lineup by combining fastball with sharp point of ball and ability to play various breaking balls.
“Nail throws not only sweeper but also cut fastballs and two-seam fastballs,” coach Lee Bum-ho said. “Personally, he is a suitable pitcher for the KBO league. When I look at foreign pitchers who have succeeded in Korea, many of them throw body-seam fastballs and big angle breaking balls.”