Terrifying KIA Nail, wild sweeper Both the batter and catcher were surprised
Nail simply overpowered KBO league hitters by throwing sweeper (transformation slider) like “magoo” in two regular league starts in the 2024 season.
On the 27th of last month, he won his first game against the Lotte Giants with nine strikeouts in six innings with five hits, no walks, and on the 4th, he became a winning pitcher again with five hits, seven strikeouts, and one run (non-ERA) in six innings against the KT Wiz.
Sweeper, the main weapon, played a big role in nail’s fearsome performance. 토토
Nail throws a “dirty” sweeper that is hard to see in the KBO League.
The nail sweeper flies toward the right-handed hitter’s body and then twists fearfully into the strike zone.
From the batter’s point of view, it feels like it’s flying into the body, so it’s quite difficult to hit.
The showdown with Jang Sung-woo, the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning against kt on the 4th, was a scene where you could guess how scary Nail’s sweeper was.
Nail threw a sweeper attached to Jang Sung-woo’s body in a ball count of two strikes, and Jang Sung-woo was surprised and pulled out.
But the ball curled horribly in front of the home plate and went through the strike zone.
The automatic ball judgment system (ABS) ruled a strike, and Jang Sung-woo kicked his tongue into the dugout.
On this day, Nail recorded 93 pitches and threw the most sweeper (27) out of five pitches.
The sweeper’s speed was 133-138 kilometers per hour, which was very difficult for batters to target as it did not differ much from the modified fastball cut fastball (135-144 kilometers per hour).
The batters are not the only ones who are surprised by the nail harness.
KIA catcher Kim Tae-gun, who received Nail’s ball against kt, said, “Nail has good two-seam fastballs and changeups, but even the sweeper seems to double the power,” adding, “In particular, the sweeper feels like it’s flying toward the batter’s body.”
He also said, “The nail sweeper is so messy that it is difficult to catch the ball.”
In fact, Nail did not receive much expectation before joining KIA.
This is because the Major League Baseball (MLB) experience and performance (7.40 ERA with one hold in 17 games) were not so outstanding.
This year’s ransom was also relatively low, with a total of 700,000 dollars ($200,000 in down payment, $350,000 in annual salary, and $150,000 in options).
However, when I opened the lid, the nail plays a role as much as the first starter.
Nail is playing the best starting role, with highly anticipated Will Crow having one win and one loss and an 8.10 ERA in two games and native ace Yang Hyun-jong having one loss and a 4.22 ERA in two games.
Nail’s performance is reminiscent of Eric Paddy (currently the Chicago White Sox), who won the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) last year.
Peddy returned to MLB last season after wearing an NC Dinos uniform and making good use of a sweeper unfamiliar to KBO League hitters, with a 20-6 record, 2.00 ERA and 209 strikeouts.
Some KIA fans even say, “If you do too well, you can go to MLB, so I hope you do well in moderation.”