"Ponce laughed." Why did Weiss say, "The S ratio is only 40% → ball ball ball → 3 runs." He didn't fill a single inning [an MLB exhibition game]

*This content was translated by AI.

His joy and sorrow were mixed with his best friend Cody Ponce (32, Toronto Blue Jays). Ryan Weiss (30, Houston Astros), who reigned in the Hanwha Eagles uniform with Ponce as the strongest one-two punch in the KBO League, was reeling.

Weiss took the mound in relief in the top of the fourth inning of the 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) exhibition game against the New York Mets at Cactus Park of the Palm Beach in West Palm Beach on the 20th (Korea time) and was sluggish with two hits and four walks during ⅔ innings.

Weiss, who signed a one-plus-one-year, up to $7.5 million (about 11.2 billion won) contract with Houston ahead of this season, has given up just one run in nine ⅔ innings in the past three games, but he shook his head with his worst pitch on the day.

Weiss, who took the mound in relief with two outs in the top of the fourth inning when his team was being dragged 0-3, allowed a walk after a six-pitch match with Jose Aular, but later sprayed Francisco Lindor with a four-seam fastball of 94.6 miles (152.2 kilometers) per hour to catch a ground ball to the first baseman and erase the crisis.

Considering that he took the mound in such a crisis and started the previous game, it was not a bad result. The problem was the fifth episode.

He played a passive game against Juan Soto, the MLB's highest-paid man, and eventually allowed a walk. He then threw the ball only on the outside course for the sixth consecutive ball against Bob Bissett, the three pitches became a strike, and the five pitches induced a swing and miss to the sweeper, but he sent two players out when he threw a ball that was far out of the way even in the full count.

In the end, the walk became a source of concern. Weiss, who insisted only on the ball on the outside course even in the face-off with Jorge Polanco, was attacked by a 95.4 mph (152.1 km) four-seam that went in to catch the count at the ball count 3-1. a runner's bases loaded. He then made a favorable ball count by putting the sweeper in the zone for the first and second consecutive pitches against Louis Robert Jr., but the third and fourth pitches were once again wide and the sweeper outside the fifth pitches was attacked. The ball flowed to the right, and in the meantime, two runners dug into the groove.

runners on the second and third bases with no outs. Weiss chose a difficult game again this time against Brett Batty. Since the first base was empty, he sprayed the ball mainly on the breaking ball, but the sweeper, which fell from the full count, did not work, so he allowed a walk once again.

The worst was avoided. He was at a disadvantage by throwing three consecutive balls against Marcus Simien, but he chose to put his fastball in the middle of the fourth ball and put it on top of the fifth ball. Simien's ball headed to the left and flew 106 meters, but was caught by left fielder Jordan Alvarez's glove. In the meantime, the third baseman homered.

That was it. The ball was handed over to Trey McLoughlin, who turned Mark Vientos into a double play and the run did not increase.

However, the game was more disappointing than the result. It was the loss of the 42 pitches that they failed to play aggressively enough to have only 17 strikes.

Houston added one point in the bottom of the fifth and one point in the bottom of the seventh, but failed to close the gap and eventually lost 2-6.

The result was very contradictory to Ponce, who started the exhibition game against the New York Yankees at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. Ponce pitched one hit, five strikeouts and no runs in five ⅔ innings. Of the 65 pitches, the number of strikes reached a whopping 44.

While facing strong batters such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andrejandro Kirk, and Okamoto Kazuma, he applauded with his confident pitching. This was the biggest difference in the results of the two on this day. Ponce has started all five games and played 13 ⅔ innings, booking a starting rotation with two wins and an ERA of 0.66.

Fortunately for Weiss, it's not enough to lose the opportunity by one mistake. He has pitched four times in exhibition games and played 110 ⅓ innings, showing compliance with the ERA of 3.48 with one win and one hold. However, the same pitch should not be repeated on this day.

Weiss, who allowed eight walks in four games, has 6.97 walks per nine innings, showing how carefully he pitches compared to his KBO league days (2.83). It may be because he is desperate for every game, but the more so, the more boldly he appeals to his strengths may be the answer.

Meanwhile, Shay Wittcomb, a Korean-born player who started as the ninth batter and third baseman, scored one hit and one run from two times at bat. The results of the exhibition games were batting average of 0.294 (5 hits in 17 at-bats), two steals, four RBIs and four runs, an on-base percentage of 0.368, a slugging percentage of 0.353, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.721.

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*This content was translated by AI.