Na Gyun-an (25, Lotte Giants) transformed into the monthly MVP mode in April. However, he failed to break the losing streak and had to turn around bitterly.스포츠토토
Na Gyun-an started the mound against kt Wiz in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Sajik Stadium on the 27th.
On this day, Na Gyun-an was Kim Min-hyeok (designated hitter) – Ahn Chi-yeong (right fielder) – Hwang Jae-gyun (3rd baseman) – Jang Seong-woo (catcher) – Anthony Alford (left fielder) – Oh Yoon-seok (1st baseman) – Shin Bon-gi (shortstop) – Park Kyung-soo (2nd baseman) – I did my part against the kt lineup composed of the assigned team (center fielder).
From the beginning of the game, he overpowered kt hitters with a powerful four-seam fastball in the mid-to-late 140 km/h speed. Ahn Chi-young, Hwang Jae-gyun, Shin Bon-ki and Park Kyung-soo all treated them as looking strikeouts, signaling a smooth start.
Na Gyun-ahn continued to pitch well, but in the middle, he was slightly shaken. After two outs in the top of the third inning, Ahn Chi-young hit a double through the middle left, sending a runner in scoring position. Right after that, Hwang Jae-gyun allowed 1 RBI and a timely hit, giving the team a 0-1 lead.
It was a similar flow in the 4th inning. After one run, Oh Yoon-seok hit a triple through the middle of the right, and then the follow-up hitter Shin Bong-gi allowed a sacrifice fly, conceding an additional run to 0-2.
Afterwards, Na Kyun-an found a sense of stability and cooked the kt lineup until the middle of the game. In the top of the 5th through 7th he pitched cleanly, letting out only one batter in three innings. In particular, after one shot at the beginning of the last 7th inning, Park Kyung-soo and Bae Jeong-dae were both struck out and kept the mound until the 7th inning with a fighting spirit. The final score was 7 innings, 6 hits, no 4 walks, 9 strikeouts and 2 runs. It was a perfect pitch, but the team lost 1-2 and Na Kyun-an took on 6 losses (6 wins) of the season.
Na Kyun-ahn showed a pitch that was shaking more and more as time went on compared to the beginning of the season. In April, he appeared in 5 games and recorded 4 wins and an average ERA of 1.34 in 33⅔ innings, and he was also awarded the first monthly MVP in his career. Even in May, he complied with an average ERA of 3.62 in 5 games, 1 win, 1 loss, and 27⅓ innings, but was shaken with a monthly ERA of 5.32 (22 innings) in June and a monthly average ERA of 6.23 (13 innings) in July. To make matters worse, he was also sidelined for a while due to a hamstring injury.
In this situation, Na Kyun-ahn’s good pitching was impressive enough to remind me of April when he received the monthly MVP. However, the team’s lineup could not help Na Kyun-an, who was struggling. He slumped, giving up six hits and walking one in nine innings, but only scoring once.
Lotte lost to kt that day and fell into a 7-game losing streak. They haven’t won a single game since the 17th. The team’s batting line did not play its part in this game where Na Kyun-ahn took the mound, as well as on the day when major starters such as Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson came out, and made the starting pitchers bow their heads.
Lotte’s season record is 50 wins and 58 losses. The flame of hope is gradually fading, with a ‘5’ game gap with the KIA Tigers (52 wins, 2 draws, 50 losses), which is the last line to advance to the postseason.