"I'm sorry."
KIA Tigers closer Jung Hae-young (23) apologized to Hanwha foreign hitter Estevan Florial (28) for hitting him with a pitch. After finding bone fragments in the area he was hit and learning he was excluded from the starting lineup, he immediately called and conveyed his sorrow through a video call. Manager Lee Beom-ho and Director General Shim Jae-hak also apologized.
Florial reached base on a hit-by-pitch in the 10th inning with one out and a runner on second in the game against KIA in Gwangju on the 8th. He was hit on the right hand by a fastball at 151 km/h, thrown by KIA closer Jung Hae-young, and he complained of severe pain. Jung Hae-young immediately approached him and expressed his regret. Florial toughened it out and stepped on first base, finishing the game through the 10th inning.
Florial underwent an MRI on the 9th, which revealed bone fragments in his right hand. Although the pain was not severe enough to exclude him from the roster, it was in a spot where he needed to apply force when hitting, making it difficult for him to play normally. He was removed from the starting lineup for the Doosan game on the 10th. This means the leadoff hitter and starting center fielder, who leads in speed baseball, is out.
Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon noted during a pre-game briefing, "He says he’s fine and will do whatever to play, but it’s just not looking good. From a manager's perspective, we’ve worked hard as a team to get this far…" He added, "We’ll wait for three days and monitor his condition. He could be a pinch hitter. We will make a decision based on the outcome in three days."
According to the KIA publicity team, Jung Hae-young learned about Florial's injury and exclusion from the game just before the Gwangju game against Samsung. He apologized directly through a video call, saying, "I'm sorry." Florial replied, "It was something that happened during the game. I’m fine." Manager Lee Beom-ho also made an apology call directly to manager Kim Kyung-moon. Director General Shim Jae-hak also communicated his regrets to Director General Son Hyuk.
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