Seoul: With their postseason hopes all but dashed, the Kia Tigers announced Thursday their ace James Naile will miss the rest of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season with arm problems. The Tigers, the 2024 Korean Series champions, said Naile is dealing with inflammation in his right elbow.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the right-hander was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday, after complaining of heaviness in his pitching arm following a throwing session. The Tigers said at the time that Naile wouldn’t need to go through any test and he would be able to rejoin the rotation after taking some time off. But when his condition did not improve, Naile underwent a test Wednesday, which revealed elbow inflammation.
The Tigers have lost three straight games to fall further out of postseason contention, and the club decided not to force Naile back into action. With the top five teams qualifying for October baseball, the Tigers began Thursday in eighth place at 61-68-4 (wins-losses-ties), 4 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Samsung Lions with 11 games to play.
Naile last pitched on Sept. 10, when he issued a season-high five walks but still kept the Lions scoreless over five innings. Naile finished his second season in the KBO with an 8-4 record and a team-best 2.25 ERA in 27 starts. In 2024, Naile won the league ERA crown with 2.53. He missed the entire month of September last year after getting struck in the face by a line drive, but returned in time to help the Tigers win the Korean Series title in October.