ethernetacademy.netAfter finishing the regular season in fourth place, the NC Dinos went on a four-game winning streak without a single loss through the wild-card decider (Doosan Bears) and semi-finals (SSG Landers). The team is riding high, with even Triple Crown ace Eric Peddie set to return for the playoffs.
However, there are concerns. Foreign pitcher Tanner Tully has been struggling.
Tanner made his KBO debut in August, pitching 64⅔ innings in 11 games and posting a respectable 5-2 record with a 2.92 ERA. Tanner’s performance in fall ball became even more necessary after NC lost Chang-Mo Koo to injury and Pedi was hit by a pitch in his final appearance of the season.
However, Tanner did not live up to expectations in his postseason debut, allowing five runs on seven hits, one home run, three walks and five strikeouts in four innings in the wild-card game on Sept. 19. Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the NC bats broke through with a five-run big inning on Seo Ho-cheol’s grand slam and Kim Hyung-joon’s back-to-back homers, but in the top of the fifth, Tanner was forced to leave the game after a walk and a hit put runners on first and second with no outs.
Game 3 of the semifinals against SSG was even worse. The bats came alive with three runs in the first inning, but Tanner gave up five runs in the second on a wild pitch and a walk. NC struck again in the bottom of the inning with a four-run big inning, led by Martin’s triple, and Tanner took the mound again in the third with a 7-5 lead. However, he gave up a walk to the first batter and was immediately replaced by Lee Jae-hak to end the game. It was a worse outing than the wild-card game, both in terms of outcome and content, with five runs on five hits, one home run, three walks and two strikeouts in two innings.토토사이트
The biggest issue was his fastball. Tanner didn’t have a fastball that averaged 140.1 mph in the regular season, per Baseball-Reference.com. Instead, he had a precise delivery with a 1.81 walk rate per nine innings (13 walks in 64⅔ innings), but in the postseason, he didn’t have the command he needed, walking six batters in six innings. Without the command to overwhelm opposing hitters, Tanner has struggled with his slider, which has lost its sharpness.
Tanner will need to rebound if NC is to get past KT Wiz in the playoffs. KT has a top-notch starting pitching staff of William Cuevas, Wes Benjamin, and Young-pyo Ko. NC, on the other hand, has the best ace in the league in Pedi, but there are question marks over his health as he has had injuries. Shin Min-hyuk (5⅔ scoreless innings) pitched better than expected in the first round of the semi-finals, but he doesn’t carry the same weight as KT’s starters. Tanner will need to regain the sharpness he showed in the regular season to avoid falling behind in the early-game matchup.