Lotte, what a scare! Na Gyun-an narrowly avoids collision as Jeon Min-jae heads to hospital... Nail's 146 km/h two-seam fastball strikes left hand [Gwangju on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

The Lotte Giants keep suffering injuries. Shortstop Jeon Min-jae (27) was hit by a 146 km/h two-seam fastball from KIA Tigers foreign pitcher James Nail (33) and was taken to the hospital.

On the 2nd, during the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season away game against KIA at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, Jeon Min-jae started at fifth spot and shortstop. In the bottom of the 4th inning with one out and runners on first and second bases, he was hit by Nail's 146 km/h two-seam fastball on his left hand and was replaced by Na Gyun-an.

The impact was severe enough that Jeon Min-jae rolled dramatically immediately after being hit, raising serious injury concerns. A Lotte team official stated, "Jeon Min-jae was struck by the ball on his left hand. He will visit Sunhan Hospital for a thorough examination to confirm the extent of the injury."

This is a major blow for Lotte, which is on a two-game losing streak. Jeon Min-jae had been performing exceptionally well in 50 games with a .275 batting average (44 hits in 160 at-bats), 5 home runs, 25 RBIs, 16 runs scored, 5 stolen bases, a .328 on-base percentage, a .413 slugging percentage, and an OPS of 0.741, contributing significantly both offensively and defensively.

Even in the earlier incident, Lotte narrowly avoided a serious injury scare, making this latest hit-by-pitch even more worrying. In the bottom of the 3rd inning with two outs and a runner on second base, Na Seong-beom hit a ground ball toward the first base area. Lotte first baseman Na Seung-yeop fielded the ball and threw it to Na Gyun-an, who was covering first base.

However, the throw was too low, nearly colliding with Na Seong-beom's shin as he ran toward first base and Na Gyun-an. Na Gyun-an, attempting to catch the low throw, stepped on the first base and fell. Fortunately, Na Seong-beom managed to hold onto Na Gyun-an until the end, preventing a serious injury.

Meanwhile, Nail recorded four hit-by-pitches through the 5th inning, setting a personal single-game record for most hit-by-pitches and chilling the Lotte batters.

Lotte's lineup that day consisted of: Hwang Seong-bin (center fielder), Go Seung-min (second baseman), Victor Reyes (designated hitter), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), Kim Dong-hyun (left fielder), Son Ho-young (third baseman), Jang Du-seong (right fielder), and Son Seong-bin (catcher). The starting pitcher was Na Gyun-an.

KIA countered with the following lineup: Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Han Jun-su (designated hitter), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Na Seong-beom (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Adellin Rodriguez (first baseman), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Kim Gyu-seong (shortstop). The starting pitcher was James Nail.

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*This content was translated by AI.