James Nail (31), a foreign ace of the KIA Tigers who was hit on the chin and injured unexpectedly, announced his condition after surgery.
Nail said on her Instagram story on the 25th, “The surgery ended well, and now she is focusing on recovering.”
In an away game against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on Monday, Nail hurriedly headed to the hospital after being hit on the chin by Matt Davidson, the leadoff hitter, in the bottom of the sixth inning. Without playing a follow-up game, Nail immediately grabbed her face and ran down the dugout, looking serious. According to an official from Kia Motors, Nail was bleeding.
Immediately after moving to a nearby Samsung Changwon Hospital, Nail who underwent an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan showed a fracture of her jaw joint. She also underwent a jaw joint fixation surgery at Asan Medical Center in Seoul the next morning. “We will have to wait and see how the surgery progresses,” an official at Kia told Star News over the phone, but added, “I don’t think I can play for the rest of the regular season. The question is whether she will be able to return to the postseason.”
After the surgery, Nail said, “I sincerely thank everyone who worried and prayed for me. God took good care of me last night.” He said, “I thank the officials of Asan Medical Center for their help in surgery and treatment.” He then thanked not only his team KIA but also NC, the other team. 메이저사이트
With 12 wins and 5 losses and an earned run average of 2.53 and 138 strikeouts in 149 ⅓ innings in 26 games this season, Nail has been the ace for Kia. She has kept the starting lineup stable even when other foreign pitchers Will Crow and Cam Aldred, who had to achieve one-two punch together, are up and down.
Amid Nail’s performance, KIA ranks first with 71 wins, 48 losses and two draws (0.597 win rate) this season as of the 26th. The difference between the second-place Samsung Lions and the current ranking is 5.5 games, and if the current ranking is confirmed, it will win the regular league title for the first time in seven years since 2017.
With just over 20 games left in the season, however, Kia has lost an ace player who can assist it in the ranking competition. However, Kia has another reason to maintain its No. 1 ranking because it needs to directly advance to the Korean Series to earn time for its nails to recover.
With Nail taking up to four to five remaining appearances, Kia may also seek to recruit temporary replacement foreign players. “I haven’t decided what to do yet,” a Kia team official said, but added, “If we push for recruitment, I think we will bring the fastest player among the players that we have listed as soon as possible.”
