As a new manager in his first year, has there ever been a case where so many players left the team? By doing so, he managed to survive the gap and is leading the way through appropriate coping and performance of substitute players. However, his ordeal is not over yet. It is a different level from what he has experienced so far, and he has no idea how to fill the gap. The KIA Tigers in the professional baseball league must overcome the huge negative factor of its ace pitcher going out of the regular season at a time when the team crosses the seventh ridge of winning the regular season title and going straight to the Korean Series.메이저놀이터
Lee Bum-ho, the new coach who was appointed as the coach during this year’s spring camp, had to settle the mood and start the season amid shock as the head coach was prosecuted by court right before departure. However, key players left the team after taking turns. He has operated the best lineup all season long.
He was sidelined by captain Na Sung-bum’s hamstring injury right before the season opened. In early April, Lee Eui-ri (elbow) and Lim Ki-young (embroidered oblique muscle) were out of the pitching staff. Since then, Lee has been out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
However, even Will Crow, who was recruited as a foreign ace, had to leave the team due to partial ligament damage. In June, last year’s rookie of the year Yoon Young-chul left the starting lineup due to spinal fatigue fracture. At the end of the first half, closer Jung Hae-young had to take a rest due to shoulder inflammation and come back. Since then, Kim Sun-bin and Lee Woo-sung have been listed as injured due to hamstring injury in the fielders. Recently, even troubleshooter Choi Hyung-woo suffered an abdominal muscle injury. Choi Ji-min and Jang Hyun-sik both need to rest due to injuries related to their abdominal muscles in the bullpen.
However, the best ordeal was waiting to be seen as small. Ace James Nail, who led KIA to the lead this year and was overwhelming the league, suffered a regular season out injury. Nail, who started against Changwon NC on the 24th, was directly hit on the chin by a strong hit by Davison, the leadoff hitter, in the sixth inning. Nail immediately moved to the hospital for examination, but the jaw joint fracture was inevitable and she underwent emergency surgery at Asan Medical Center the next day (25th) after stepping up to the top of the team.
With 12 wins and five losses and an earned run average of 2.54 this year, the top-rated ace cannot immediately play in the remaining regular season. As the team is currently in a situation where it cannot even eat properly, it is hard to predict when it will be able to recover its condition. For now, Kia plans to make all-out efforts to recover its nails and give full support. As it suffered a dangerous injury, Kia prayed for the surgery to end successfully and is only thinking about a healthy recovery.
However, Lee Bum-ho, who has to lead the remaining 23 games during the regular season, has to figure out how to overcome the last month of the race without nails. Lee was worried about his nails but couldn’t help but think about the future. The number of cases should be checked, ranging from temporary replacement of foreign players to ways to utilize Korean pitchers.
Coach Lee Bum-ho and Kia Tigers, who have endured well so far, can prove their qualifications to win the regular season title and go straight to the Korean Series if they overcome the current crisis and pass the test stage.
Lee pledges to endure through the last month with determination. “We have always had a crisis since April. I thought August would not be a crisis, but August also came,” he complained.
Still, he said, “No team is equally in crisis. However, I think our players will endure it well.” He added, “I think we need to clearly plan what to do from now on. If we think we will play the remaining games in a vague manner, we may be in jeopardy. I think we need to set a clear framework and move on.”
“It’s important to win how many games from now on, so I think we should clearly distinguish between those that can be won and those that need to be thrown away. How to win the game has become important. I also try to think about the winning game by boldly excluding it from the losing game. I think we should make a rotation accordingly and that’s the smartest way to do it,” he said.
Coach Lee Bum-ho thinks that the injury of the ace will also serve as an opportunity for the players to make up their minds and strengthen their determination for the rest of the game. Coach Lee stressed, “The nail injury would have depressed our team itself, but I also thought that it was a team. I think it will be a stimulus for the players to get their minds together when we don’t have nails.”