"7 ⅓ innings 16K." Is there something you're disappointed about the foreign ace who came back after 6 years? "If you reduce 3 balls per inning," [the scene of Busan]

*This content was translated by AI.

Doosan Bears manager Kim Won-hyung (54) found one thing to be desired from foreign ace Chris Flexen (32) who returned.

Doosan announced its starting lineup ahead of the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League exhibition game against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 19th.

On this day, Doosan formed a lineup of Park Chan-ho (striker), Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Dodds Cameron (right fielder), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Kang Seung-ho (designated hitter), Yang Seok-hwan (first baseman), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), and Park Ji-hoon (left fielder). The starting pitcher is Jack Rogue.

Against this, Lotte formed the lineup of Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Son Ho-young (middle fielder), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Jeon Joon-woo (left fielder), Yoo Kang-nam (designated hitter), Jeon Min-jae (striker), Noh Jin-hyuk (first baseman), Son Sung-bin (catcher), and Lee Seo-jun (third baseman). The starting pitcher is Kim Jin-wook.

Doosan is in second place in the exhibition game with five wins and one loss. The stable mound led by Chris Flexen-Jack Logue foreign one-two punch and the batting line that produces RBIs in the right place are rolling smoothly.

Before the game, head coach Kim Won-hyung said, "During the camp, I ordered that I should actively bet in the ball count in favor of batters, but I'm doing well. Pitchers are taking a good ball count by targeting a lot of strike zones except for one."

In particular, Flexen, who returned to Korea for the first time in six years, has shown overwhelming pitching with a 1.23 ERA in two games and two walks and 16 strikeouts in seven ⅓ innings.

Coach Kim Won-hyung said with a smile, "I don't know if there is a big difference between Flexen's performance in the past and now," and added, "I think it's a trial game, so I think the result is good."

"The trial game may lose concentration, but he's throwing well. Still, it would be nice to reduce the number of pitches per inning by a few. "I know that pitchers who strike out a lot have no choice but to increase the number of pitches," he added.

He also said, "However, if we reduce only 3 pitches per inning, the total number of pitches will be reduced by more than 10 pitches. Since I'm an ace pitcher, I hope you can change this part a little more. I'm looking forward to it a lot," he stressed.

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*This content was translated by AI.