KBO’s ERA Leader Finds Success with Aggressive Approach

INCHEON, Apr. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — When former major league pitcher James Naile signed with the South Korean club Kia Tigers in January, he had no idea just how different cheering culture in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) would be.

It came as a culture shock when the right-hander took the Korean mound in front of spectators for the first time during preseason in March. There was nonstop chanting from fans in cheering sections for both the home team and the visiting club, and players’ walkup songs blared through speakers even as Naile was getting ready to deliver his pitch. This style of cheering doesn’t exist in Major League Baseball (MLB).

“I remember when the first batter stepped in there, the music was still playing and the crowd was chanting and I’m looking at the umpire like, ‘Hey, are we going to quit this? Can I pitch?’ So it was a cool moment,” Naile recalled with a smile during a conversation with Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday, before the Tigers faced the home team SSG Landers at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul.

The fact that fans would mostly cheer for batters in the box and would only chant the pitcher’s name after a big strikeout was also a foreign concept to Naile.

“That took a little getting used to,” he said. “And now I’m really having fun with it.”

And Naile has every reason to be having fun on the mound these days.

The 31-year-old leads the KBO with a 1.09 ERA, having allowed only three earned runs in 24 2/3 innings. He has a perfect 3-0 record after four starts. He has struck out 30 batters and has yet to walk a batter.

While he may have needed some adjustment period for the KBO-style cheering, Naile seems to have hit the ground running when it comes to handling KBO hitters. The pitcher said his attack mindset has paid dividends.

“I’ve just been focused on trying to throw strikes, working ahead in counts. I think that’s been a big thing for me. I think I’ve just noticed that players are aggressive in this league, which means you need to match that,” Naile said. “If you fall behind in this league, you’re going to get hurt. I think if I can get ahead and get to counts where maybe they don’t know if I’m going to throw a sinker in or maybe a sweeper away, it’s beneficial for me. I think overall, the aggression is what I’ve noticed the most. Being ahead in the count is everything.”

Naile said KBO hitters can frustrate pitchers by fouling off pitch after pitch.

“They make you work. That’s for sure,” said Naile, who then referred to his most recent outing on Sunday against the Hanwha Eagles. He needed a season-high 104 pitches to get through a season-low 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision.

“Hanwha did a really good job of that the other day. I felt like I was strike one on everybody and next thing I know, it was 3-2,” Naile said. “These are smart hitters. They know what they’re doing. So it’s important to be sharp each time.”

And Naile has been sharp every time, thanks in large part to his sweeper — a variation of a slider with a more dramatic horizontal break.

That sweeper has been all the rage in the KBO since 2023, when then NC Dinos ace Erick Fedde rode that pitch to a Triple Crown and the regular season MVP award. Fedde turned that success into a two-year, US$15 million contract with the Chicago White Sox in December.

Naile said he began throwing the sweeper last season when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. Naile had already been throwing a slurve, a hybrid of a slider and a curveball, and the Cardinals pitching coach Dusty Blake suggested Naile either try to go for more horizontal movement or add more depth to his pitch.

“I think a more natural (move) for me was to try and sweep the ball, get it to go horizontally,” Naile said. “I worked on it in the 2022-2023 offseason, and it was a great pitch for me in Triple-A last year. I got a lot of soft contact and strikeouts with it and I think I learned to use it and manipulate it a little bit.”

Naile tends to throw the sweeper with its more conventional, horizontal break against right-handed batters, meaning the ball “sweeps” across the plate to the outside corner. Against left-handed batters, Naile said he tries to add a little depth, with the sweeper moving toward the back foot of the hitter.

Naile said pitching with the new ball — the KBO ball has higher seams and is smaller and tackier than the MLB ball — hasn’t affected his sweeper.

“It’s just a smaller ball. I think I’m able to get my hands around it a little bit better but otherwise, the sweeper hasn’t really changed a whole lot,” Naile said. “My numbers on it are pretty similar with the major league ball.”

While dominating the KBO with his sweeper last year, Fedde also shared tips with his South Korean teammates. He was even approached by pitchers from other teams, and Fedde gladly spent time with them to teach them how to throw the sweeper.

Naile said “a lot of guys from our team” are curious about the sweeper but he hasn’t had much interaction with pitchers on other teams.

“I think the information is out there on the sweeper. With each person, finding your own grip is what’s important,” Naile said. “The ball is really deep in my hand, which I think is unique. Other guys split their fingers apart. I think with each person, it just depends on the arm action and how they can spin it.”

Naile doesn’t throw anything straight. Per KBO statistics site Statiz, Naile has not thrown a four-seam fastball this year, and two-seam fastball, cutter, curve, slider and changeup make up his arsenal. Statiz doesn’t identify sweepers.

Last year, when Naile appeared in 10 games for the Cardinals, the website Baseball Savant identified 170 sinkers, 119 curveballs, 11 changeups, five cutters and only three four-seamers.

“That’s actually one of the things I’ve probably worked on the most over the years: trying to throw my four-seam straighter,” he said. “It’s not something I’m great at yet. I continue to work on it but you know, I rely on movement on pitches and throwing strikes. That’s my game.”

(Yonhap)