Is it the aftermath of a complete game shutout? KIA Tigers foreign pitcher Adam Oller (31) has been struggling sharply since earning his first shutout victory. In the 2026 professional baseball game against the Doosan Bears held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 12th, he started but recorded 6 innings, 6 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, and 5 earned runs. He struck out 5 batters. The team lost 1-5, suffering their third loss of the season.
The first and second innings were perfect pitching. However, in the third inning, he was shaken after allowing a triple to right-center field to the first batter, Jeong Soo-bin. He then gave up a hit to Park Ji-hoon. Center fielder Kim Ho-ryeong failed to catch a ball while trying to field it, allowing a triple and tying the game. A sacrifice fly by Oh Myung-jin to left field gave up the go-ahead run. The fourth and fifth innings were scoreless.
But he wobbled again in his second crisis. He allowed an infield single that bounced off the shortstop’s wrist to Oh Myung-jin. With one out, walking Kim Min-seok in a favorable count proved costly. Against Park Jun-soon, he threw a two-seamer outside on the second pitch but was beaten by a push hit. The ball sailed over the right-field wall. In an instant, the score gap widened to 1-5.
He finished his outing after the sixth inning. He mixed a slider, fastball, changeup, two-seamer, and curveball. His fastball and two-seamer topped out at 152 km/h. The painful part was allowing run-scoring hits in both crises. Recently, he has been pitching well but giving up runs when facing trouble. The number of hard-hit balls is increasing, and his sweeper (slurve) hasn’t been executed satisfactorily. His stuff is clearly wavering.
Oller recorded his first complete game shutout on April 24 against Lotte in Gwangju, allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 11. He lowered his ERA to 0.81 and seemed to establish himself as the ace. But he has been shaky since then. On April 30 in Changwon against NC, he took a loss with 4 earned runs in 5 innings. On May 6 in Gwangju against Hanwha, he also became the losing pitcher with 5 earned runs in 6 innings.
He has now lost three consecutive starts. Since the shutout, he has allowed 16 earned runs in 17 innings over three games, posting an ERA of 8.47 in that span. His overall season ERA has risen from 2.44 to 3.04. He has gone from an untouchable ace boasting a Sun Dong-ryul-like ERA to a pitcher who gets attacked. Of course, this is a temporary phenomenon. With some bad luck involved, he is likely to regain his effectiveness if he adjusts and refocuses.
