Kia finished its three consecutive home games against the SSG Landers with one win and two losses last weekend. It is still holding the lone lead, but has little leeway. Kia has only four wins and six losses in its recent 10 games. The NC Dinos, which had been closely trailing the latter, also faltered with four wins and six losses in recent months, but as the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears surged to fourth and fifth place, the race for the top spot has intensified. Kia, which ranks first, and Doosan, which ranks fifth, have only a 2.5 game gap.
So far, the number of wins he earned in April has been high, but he is not in a situation where he can afford to let go. There is no Winning Series in the last five consecutive series. After sweeping three consecutive games against the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes from April 24 to 26, he had only one win and two losses against the LG Twins and one win and two losses against the KT Wiz, and one win and one loss against the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions, respectively. And one win and two losses to SSG again.
The biggest concern is Crowe’s departure. Crowe was excluded from the first division entry on Tuesday due to a right elbow injury. After pitching in the bullpen on Tuesday, he complained of discomfort in his elbow, and was diagnosed with partial damage to his right medial ligament. “We excluded him from the first division entry today, and will have a re-examination two weeks later,” Kia said at the time of Crowe’s injury announcement.
The news came as a bolt from the blue. Crow’s performance this season is a whopping 5-1 loss with an ERA of 3.57 in eight games. There were many lost games, but he defended well at least five innings each time he got a chance to score. He also had luck in applying for a goal. Crow is currently tied for first in multiple wins along with Reyes Wontaein (Samsung) and Heysus (Kium).
Along with James Nail, Kia has also played Crow. Kia has rightly evaluated its selection of a new foreign pitcher as a success, which it had been most worried about ahead of the opening of this season. While Crow was not sluggish and considering that if the season continues as it is now, the season will roll well, unexpected bad news has occurred.
Lee Eui-ri, who left the team first due to injury, is now preparing to return to the team. However, with Crow falling out again, the “complete team” has moved away again. Lim Ki-young, a veteran starting pitcher who has played as a bullpen since last year, is preparing to change starting pitchers again. Hwang Dong-ha’s pitching has been a comfort to Lee Bum-ho.
If so, how long can we wait for Crowe now? What embarrasses the KIA club is that the elbow is not the part where Crowe’s injury history has been. The shoulder, which was concerned, was closely examined, but rather the elbow, not the shoulder, got sick and flew.
Cross-checked at several hospitals, but the opinions of specialists are slightly different. Although the findings on ligament damage are the same, there are opinions that “it is possible to pitch,” and others view it as “difficult.”
Crow, who showed sociability by quickly socializing with teammates, expressed his regret to his team and club. KIA is in an emergency situation. We cannot afford to wait for the re-examination in two weeks. If the team loses its dangerous No. 1 ranking, its overall performance may weaken. “We are waiting for now, but we are devising various measures. We are assuming the worst case scenario,” a source from KIA’s team said.
BY: 토토