Kia should call Nail an ace…not tomorrow, but now, 3 wins, 0.47 ERA, 19 innings, no walks, ‘insane’

James Nail, 31, is now the ace.

When the Kia Tigers selected foreign pitchers for this season, they chose Will Crowe, who has started in the major leagues, as their ace. Nail, who hasn’t made many starts, was considered the second or third starter alongside Yang Hyun-jong and Lee Yi-ri.

In reality, Kia is paying Crowe $1 million per year and Nail $700,000 per year this season. However, the organization said it paid the St. Louis Cardinals $250,000 to acquire Nail. Nail was on St. Louis’ 40-man big league roster. So Nail was valuable.

Still, I was a little more impressed with Crowe, who threw a 150+ mph fastball in spring training in Canberra, Australia. Nail also touched close to 150 mph, but it was hard to be sure about the variety of pitches and command that a “two-seamer” should have.

Nail actually learned the sweeper and changeup in Canberra last year and said he was just practicing. The concern was that he would be incomplete. His fears were realized as he went 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA in three exhibition games. His struggles against lefties were particularly worrisome.

But Nail was a different man once the regular season began. Whereas Crowe struggled with all sorts of pitches getting caught in hitters’ bats, Nail was untouchable. On March 27 against the Gwangju Lotte Giants, he allowed one run on five hits (one home run) with nine strikeouts and one walk in six innings, and on March 3 against the Suwon KT Wiz, he allowed one run (unearned) on five hits and seven strikeouts in six innings.

It’s still a small sample size, but Nail pitched another “crazy” game that erased doubts. On the 9th, against the LG Twins in Gwangju, he pitched 7 innings with 7 hits, 7 strikeouts, and no walks to earn his third win of the season. He lowered his ERA to 0.47. Despite the LG hitters adjusting to the  new batting order over two innings, Nail was able to keep them off the board with sporadic hits.

Nail’s fastest delivery of the day was 150 kilometers. He then threw 32 sweepers. His changeup, cutter, and four-seam fastball were on point. Early in the season, hitters never adjusted to Nail’s sweeper. Basically, Nail’s sweeper doesn’t have as much movement as Crowe’s, but it’s a bit faster. Topped out at 146 mph.

SBS Sports commentator Najeev Najeev, who was covering the match, said, “It’s like Nail is putting a restraint on the sweeper.” In 먹튀검증 fact, six out of eight deliveries were strikes, and the lowest was 140 kilometers. It’s hard for batters to adjust to the speed of the sweeper.

However, Nail’s co-commentator, Lee Soon-cheol, argued that Nail’s sweeper is technically a slurve. Compared to Eric Peddie’s (Chicago White Sox) sweeper, which was the best in the KBO last year, it doesn’t have the flavor of using home plate. Instead, he explained that it’s a slurve that digs firmly into the left-hander’s body. Commissioner Najiwan agreed.

Obviously, Nail’s sweeper has different (less) movement and is faster than a normal sweeper. However, Nail throws a different type of sweeper, which makes it seem untouchable to hitters in the KBO.

After the game, Nail revealed that he uses different longitudinal and lateral movements for his sweepers depending on the type of batter and his style. He explained that he used to throw a slurve when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, but now he adds movement to his slurve to make it a sweeper.

Nail is also smart. He listens to his catchers and varies his pitches. He also utilizes his other pitches well. He doesn’t have a lot of starting pitching experience, so midseason fitness will be a big question mark. If he can overcome that, he has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in the KBO this year.

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