KIA Tigers foreign pitcher Eric Stout wants to add a little strength to the team’s No. 1 Mercury.
After the end of Game 13 of the season against the Kiwoom Heroes of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 7th, Stout met with reporters and said, “I will try to do that because I know how important it is to win the regular season in the KBO League.”
Stout, who had showdowns with Kim as the starting pitcher on the day, became the winning pitcher as he allowed five hits, three strikeouts and one run during five innings. The number of pitches he throws is 99, in the order of fastballs (49), sweeper (24), cutter (17), and change-up (9). The maximum speed and average speed of fastballs were 150 kilometers per hour and 146 kilometers per hour, respectively.
The stout faced a major crisis early in the game. With the bases loaded with one outs in the top of the second inning, right fielder Na Sung-bum made a mistake when Kim Jae-hyun made a sacrifice fly, and third baseman Kim Hye-seong came to the plate. However, he stabilized after losing his first run, and kept the mound until the top of the fifth inning without allowing any additional run. Compared to the match against the Daegu Samsung Lions (four hits, two homers, two strikeouts and five runs scored in four innings), he garnered his first win.
Stout was disappointed in his first appearance, but he made up for it by becoming a winning pitcher in his second appearance. However, he said, “The unfortunate thing is that there were a lot of pitches, but we need to improve it in the future,” adding that he will improve the number of pitches compared to the innings.
Kia has used a foreign player replacement system to minimize gaps in James Nail, who suffered a broken jaw at the match against the Changwon NC Dinos on June 24. He reached out to Stout, who used to play in the Taiwanese professional baseball league.
After receiving a call from KIA, Stout stepped on the Korean soil after signing with KIA at the end of last month, and announced his KBO League debut after completing the issuance of a work visa. “The sound itself is loud, and I think the atmosphere is better than when I threw it in the U.S. I think that energy worked well when I was on the mound,” he said.
It is rapidly melting into the team as well as the league. “I like everything about the players and the atmosphere. The team atmosphere is so good that even my girlfriend or parents who are overseas can know it. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I want to play as many games as possible in the KBO League,” he said with encouragement.
Stout, who also said he wanted to ask Yang a lot of things when he entered the 토토사이트 KBO League, said, “I talked a lot with Yang before the first game against Samsung, and I’m trying to absorb Yang Hyun-jong’s experience and knowledge while I’m here as much as I can,” adding, “I want to absorb a lot of experience because it’s very fun to talk to Yang Hyun-jong and his team members who watch the game together in the dugout.”
When asked about the funniest teammate, catcher Kim Tae-gun was chosen. “Kim Tae-gun usually plays jokes on me a lot, and he has some information about the Taiwanese league, so the story works,” he said with a smile.
KIA, which started counting down to win the regular season title, reduced its magic number from nine to seven with its victory on the day. If the current trend continues, chances are high that the team will determine No. 1 ranking in the regular season around the Chuseok holiday. Given that there are rest days in between, there is a possibility that the team will directly advance to the Korean Series when Stout takes the mound.
However, Stout is only allowed to accompany Kia until the end of the regular season under the “foreign player replacement injury system.” However, he expressed his commitment to do his part until the moment the team secures the top spot in the regular season.
Stout said, “I think it would be awesome if that happens. My family and my girlfriend are coming to Korea next week, so it would be great if I could show them how I can confirm my team’s victory.”