Foreign ace 'remains in KIA despite ML interest' and 'where on earth' did he see hope in eighth place? "Players who got the opportunity have to prove it this year." [Okinawa Station]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers foreign ace James Nail (33) found hope in the disappointing 2025 season.

Nail said at the 2026 KIA Spring Camp at Kin Town Baseball Stadium in Kin Town, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on the 25th, "As a third year of KBO, my understanding of Korea has improved a lot. "I'm looking forward to the situation in the future, such as new relationships with team members and people I meet outside the ballpark," he said, expressing his feelings ahead of the 2026 season.

In November last year, KIA succeeded in renewing a one-year contract with Nail for a total of $2 million. Nail, who joined the 2024 season and led KIA to the Korean Series championship, achieved a career high with 8 wins and 4 losses with a 2.25 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 164 ⅓ innings last year. He also consistently visited scouts of the U.S. Major League Baseball (ML) in Nail's game. However, despite a lot of interest, Nail eventually decided to accompany KIA for the third time.

Nail said, "Actually, if you're a Korean or American kid, it's always going to be a dream to play in the major leagues. If I had that opportunity, I could have leaned a little more toward the Major League. However, I had to consider the terms of my contract in Korea and a decision that would help my career a little more. "Since I spent my third year in Korea, I was not afraid of an unfamiliar environment, so I felt toward KIA," he explained.

It is the third season in KIA, but the atmosphere is quite different from the past two years. The winning team fell to eighth place in the regular season in a year, and the team's flagship Choi Hyung-woo (43) and Park Chan-ho (31) left KIA as FA, respectively.

Nail said, "The departure of Choi Hyung-woo and Park Chan-ho is a huge loss for our team. But I understand that transfer can happen, of course. I will miss you a lot as a friend, but I will definitely try to win when I meet you during the season," he stressed.

The process of falling to eighth place and the absence of two key players could rather help KIA. Nail said, "Honestly, the two players who played important roles have left, allowing other players to get more opportunities. Many players, including myself, will try to fill the vacancy," he said.

"Actually, last year's ranking is very disappointing. But I think I learned a lot from it. In particular, players who did not receive much attention received a lot of opportunities. Of course, this year, the players who received the opportunity should be able to prove the experience. I also told those players a lot that this year should be a season where they can show that," he added.

I didn't forget my personal efforts. He pitched in the bullpen for the third time on the day, throwing various two-seam fastballs, cutters, and sweepers to play a total of 31 pitches. At the batter's box, Jarryd Dale was surprised that the cutter felt like a sweeper, and Jung Hyun-chang, in his second year, tried to adapt to the KBO's top breaking ball.

Nail said, "I can't tell you all the secrets of the business, but I've tried to improve all the pitches as much as possible. Sweeper and two-seam fastball are the most confident pitches I've ever had, but tried to improve. "We are also improving the cutter that we had fun with last year, and we are trying to increase the proportion of curves compared to last year," he said.

Last year, despite his outstanding performance, Nail missed the ERA title unfortunately, behind Cody Ponce (Toronto Blue Jays), who won four pitchers and MVP awards. Nail said, "It's a great honor to be in the same category as good pitchers. However, rather than that title, my goal is to do my best on the mound every game, he said. "I'm in my third year and I know KBO very well, so I'm preparing to play a little smarter."

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*This content was translated by AI.