James Nail (32) quenched his thirst. Nail, who debuted in the KBO League last year, had 12 wins, 5 losses and an earned run average of 2.53 in 26 games (149.1 innings). It is the first time in four years that a "foreign pitcher with 10 wins" has appeared in KIA since Aaron Brooks and Drew Gagnon, who had 11 wins each in 2020.메이저사이트

Kia was not equipped with a foreign player's "one two punch" even in the last season when it won the combined championship. Wil Crowe, who signed as the first starter, was out after eight games due to elbow injury, while Cam Aldred or Eric Lauer, who signed the team instead, also left unsatisfactory results. Kia seems to be enjoying the benefits of a strong foreign duo this year.

The ace player at Kia this season is definitely Nail. Nail has had two wins and an earned run average of 1.05 in seven games (42.2 innings). Nail has had quality starts (more than six innings and three earned runs or fewer) in five of the seven games, ranking first in the earned run average category.

Nail had only two wins, but KIA had 6 wins and 1 loss in the game where Nail took the mound. Of these, four wins were decided within two points. Nail led the team to victory with her own power even though she lacked scoring support due to a series of injuries to key hitters such as Kim Do-young.

Adam Oler (31), who is paired with Nail, also finished adapting to the KBO League very early and is throwing a powerful ball.

Along with a 150-kilometer-per-hour fastball, Aller lures batters' bats with slobs, which can be said to be the middle form between slobs and curves. At the match against LG in Gwangju on Wednesday last week, Aller pitched seven scoreless innings by throwing more slobs (30) than fastballs (28).

Aller pitched 36 innings in six games, recording four wins and one loss with a 3.50 ERA. He struggled with new environments in the KBO league, such as the automatic pitching system and the persistent cuts of batters, but pitched at least five innings every game, and thus did not collapse easily, and now he seems to have completely adjusted to the situation. In six games Aller pitched, Kia had five wins and one loss.

KIA has displayed outstanding performance of 11 wins and 2 losses in games where two foreign pitchers took the mound. The "defending champion" KIA is the biggest driving force that enabled it to stay grounded even in the face of injury.

In particular, Oler is even active in learning Nail's "Sweeper," which was a big success in the KBO League last year. "Slub is the most confident type of pitch, but I'm also getting advice on sweeper from nail," Oler said. "I can't throw as much as I can, but I want to chase half of the nail."

Kia, which started from the bottom this season contrary to expectations, is on a rebound to gradually recover its form as injured players return. Nail and Aller's unwavering pitching contributed to Kia, which had passed its worst April. If Nail and Aller keep pace, chances are very high that Kia will show its true colors and shake the league table.