Eric Stout, who is filling the void of KIA Tigers James Nail, faithfully performed his given role.
Stout started the season’s 15th game against the Kiwoom Heroes of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on Sunday, and gave three hits, two strikeouts and one run (non- earned run) during five ⅓ innings, contributing to his team’s 3-2 victory. He pitched 62 pitches, in the order of fastballs (52), sweeper (21), cutter (13), and change-up (6). The maximum speed and average speed of fastballs were 150 km/h and 146 km/h.
Stout, who made his KBO League debut against the Daegu Samsung Lions on the 1st, had four hits (two home runs) with two outs and six strikeouts and five runs in four innings at the time. In the match against Kiwoom in Gwangju on the 7th, which was his next appearance, he won his first victory in two games by recording five hits, three outs and eight strikeouts in five innings.
The stout seemed to continue its upward trend as it blocked three outs in the top of the first inning. In the top of the third inning, Kim Byung-hwi’s dune and Park Soo-jong’s bunt hits faced a crisis, but he added an out count by striking out Kim Jae-hyun and Jang Jae-young. After Lee Joo-hyung’s walk, he escaped the crisis by catching Song Sung-moon with a fly ball to shortstop with two outs.
Stout ended the top of the fourth inning without losing a point, but ended the game without allowing a run in the top of the fifth inning, satisfying the requirement as a winning pitcher. However, he sent out leadoff hitter Lee Ju-hyeong at the top of the sixth inning due to outfielder error, and allowed a hit to Kim Hye-sung after Song Seong-moon’s fly ball to the left field, driving the batter to the first and second bases with one out. Consequently, the KIA bench did not drag the stout anymore and handed over the mound to Jang.
Although Stout postponed his second win of this season to the next opportunity, he pitched more than five innings to ease the burden on the bullpen. After the game, KIA manager Lee Bum-ho also expressed satisfaction, saying, “Stout gave me more than five innings with stable pitching.”
“Overall, it was a good pitch,” Stout said. “I had good control and good chemistry with catcher Kim Tae-gun. I met Kiwoom right before the game, and since my ball must have been familiar to batters, I focused on catching the count faster. I think that’s why the result of the game was good.” 안전놀이터
Stout also said, “I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t finish the top of the sixth inning,” adding, “I still had faith that the bullpen would be able to block it well, and the team was turned around, but I thought I could score a point because the top hitter came out in the bottom of the ninth inning.”
Stout, who played in the Taiwan Baseball Organization (CPBL) this year, wore the KIA uniform as a substitute for Nail, who suffered a broken jaw in the match against the Changwon NC Dinos on April 24. He was sluggish in his first appearance, but he showed a little bit of aging throughout the game.
However, Stoute is not allowed to play in the postseason under KBO league rules. According to KBO league rules, only foreign players registered as official players before Aug. 15 are allowed to play in the postseason. Stoute literally chose to go to Korea for a “short-term part-time job.”
Given the number of games remaining (10 games) and his schedule, Stoute will likely play one or two more games before the end of the regular season. This means that there is not much time left for him to say goodbye. “There are only a few games left to take the mound, and it doesn’t matter whether he is a winning pitcher or not. I will try my best to make a game that my team can win by throwing well, just like I did today (14th),” Stoute said, stressing his responsibility.