The KIA Tigers have continued to invest in their foreign pitching staff even after winning the 2024 Korean Series. Ahead of the 2025 season, KIA and LG were the only two of the 10 KBO League clubs to re-sign both of their foreign pitchers. The one-two punch of Nail and Oller earned the club's trust by combining for 313.1 innings last season, and KIA invested a total of 3.2 million dollars in them.

Acquisition of Oller to Overcome the No. 2 Starter Void

KIA suffered from the absence of a No. 2 starter throughout the 2024 season. While Nail served as the ace with a 12-5 record and a 2.53 ERA in 26 games, Will Crow, who left mid-season due to an elbow injury, and Eric Lauer, acquired in August, failed to meet expectations. Lauer went 2-2 with a 4.93 ERA in 7 games and failed to leave an impression in the Korean Series.

Ultimately, KIA parted ways with Lauer after the season and selected Adam Oller, who posted a 5-13 record with 1 hold and a 6.54 ERA over three big-league seasons with the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins, as their new foreign pitcher. Signed by KIA in December 2024 for 1 million dollars, Oller went 8-3 with a 3.03 ERA in 16 games in the first half of 2025, establishing himself as the team's winningest pitcher. Armed with a fastball reaching over 150 km/h along with a slurve and changeup as his primary weapons, he picked up 5 wins in the first half alone, making up for Nail's slump.

However, he was removed from the first-team roster after a game against Kiwoom on June 25 due to elbow inflammation and took the entire month of July off. After his return, he went 3-4 with a 4.67 ERA in 10 second-half games, failing to display his previous dominance. Nevertheless, Oller posted an 11-7 record with a 3.62 ERA in 26 total games in the 2025 season, doing his part as a No. 2 starter for a KIA team whose domestic starting rotation had faltered. Had it not been for his injury absence in July, he is evaluated to have been able to throw more than 160 innings, earning recognition for his ability to eat innings.

Based on this performance, KIA re-signed Oller in December 2025 for 1.2 million dollars, and also re-signed Nail for 1.8 million dollars.

Signs of a Second-Half Slump

However, as the second half of 2025 got underway, Oller's pitching began to falter sharply. After throwing one scoreless inning as the Nanum All-Star selection in the All-Star Game on July 11, he took the mound as a starter in the first game of the second half against the SSG Landers on July 17. But he suffered three consecutive losses, giving up 3 runs in 4.1 innings against SSG on the 16th, 4 runs in 5 innings against Hanwha on the 22nd, and 8 runs in 1 inning against Samsung on the 28th. During this stretch, Oller's ERA soared from 2.36 in the first half to 3.36. In particular, against Samsung, he gave up 7 hits and 3 walks in a single inning, allowing 8 runs.

Although KIA removed Oller from the first-team roster after the SSG game on June 30 (a 6-inning, 3-unearned-run victory) to give him time to prepare for the second half, the results fell short of expectations. If his slump continues even after a ten-day rest due to the heatwave, KIA will inevitably face greater difficulties in the standings race. Oller will challenge to snap the losing streak and secure his fourth 10-win season against Samsung on the 11th.

Heatwave Advisory, All Games Suspended... Mixed Reactions from Clubs

Due to the recent prolonged heatwave, the Korea Baseball Organization canceled games on August 5-6 and held an emergency executive committee meeting on the 6th, suspending all games until the 9th. Each club was given an unexpected 6-to-10-day rest period. This period could serve as an opportunity to reorganize their rosters.

For the kt wiz, who were riding a wave of momentum with a 12-1-1 second-half record, and the Doosan Bears, who were aiming for third place with an 8-2-4 record, it was a disappointing decision. On the other hand, for the LG Twins, who had fallen to third place with a 3-1-12 record, it could serve as a catalyst for a resurgence.

After finishing the first half in fourth place, KIA dropped to fifth after being pushed back by Doosan while unable to play games during the August heatwave. In a situation where they need to stack as many wins as possible in their remaining 44 games to advance to autumn baseball, Oller's rebound is an absolute necessity. All eyes are on what kind of form Oller, who went 0-3 with 15 earned runs in 10.1 innings over three second-half games, will show for the rest of the season.