KIA played a game without Nae Sung-bum again. When he made his comeback in late June, who would have thought that he would meet this fate three months later?메이저사이트
Na injured his right hamstring while running from second to third base in the eighth inning of the Gwangju LG Electronics game on June 19. A cross-check revealed a 10-12 week diagnosis. In September, a 10-12 week absence means he is out for the season. He was out for three months after playing his first game of the season on June 23 against Gwangju KT.
Na Sung-beom/KIA Tigers
Na Sung-beom/KIA Tigers
Na had a bad calf before and after joining the WBC. At first, it seemed like a few days of rest would do the trick, but it didn’t. He only played two games in the WBC. He skipped the exhibition games altogether and didn’t make his first appearance of the season until the 63rd game of the season.
And after just 58 games, he said goodbye to the field again. On the 10th, he stubbed his toe on a foul ball against the Gwangju LG Electronics and was unable to field and run normally. He thought it was just a glitch, but it turned out to be a harbinger of a bigger injury.
His 58-game performance was quite remarkable. 222 hits, 81 runs, .365, 18 home runs, 57 RBI, 51 runs scored, 0.671 slugging percentage, 0.427 OPS, 1.098 OPS, 0.348 on-base percentage. It’s hard to find his name on the leaderboard due to his lack of plate appearances, but when you rub your eyes and look at it again, it’s still pretty amazing.
Nearly 20 home runs in less than 60 games, an OPS well over 1, and chances to strike out. He’s never been called a home run hitter, but as of the last three months, he’s not even close to Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan or SSG’s Choi Jung. In terms of impact, he’s been even better.
KIA lost six straight games, slipped to sixth place, and had to deal with Na’s season-ending injury, as well as Na’s confession in the first game without him. Sure, they scored eight runs on 11 hits and six walks against Hanwha on the 21st, but half of those eight runs came in the game-winning ninth inning.
Veteran Kim Sun-bin moved to third base to form a cleanup trio with Choi Hyung-woo and Socrates Brito, but no one could fill the void left by Na’s presence. You can definitely feel the difference in the weight of the lineup. He’s a fixer that KIA will miss. To make matters worse, Choi Won-jun is also out of the lineup for the Hangzhou Asian Games, leaving the outfield to rely heavily on Lee Woo-sung, Lee Chang-jin, and Ko Jong-wook, as it did earlier in the season.
Na Sung-beom played just 23 games in 2019 after suffering a long-term ACL tear in his knee. At the time, NC finished with 73 wins, 69 losses and 2 draws, just missing out on the top five. A healthy Na proved to be at least a top-five contender after his move to KIA. It’s true that this year’s KIA hasn’t been as strong in the first two and a half months of the season without Na, but they do have the strength of depth and other center fielders. There’s not much else they can do, but they’ll need other players to step up to the plate and fill Na’s shoes if they want to make it to the top five. It’s time for both Na and KIA to get real.
Na Sung-bum/KIA Tigers
Na Seong-beom/KIA Tigers
Meanwhile, Na Sung-bum is in his second season after signing a six-year, 15 billion won contract as a free agent. This year, he spent just 89 days in the first team. Even with 10 days in the WBC and up to 30 days on the disabled list, that’s less than 145 days. He will not be recognized as a full-time player this year.