"Phone-class level pitcher came to KBO?"' Should I evaluate the Korea of the Korean stage? "I will show you my best performance."" Look at your confidence

*This content was translated by AI.

Cody Ponce, who dominated the KBO League while playing for the Hanwha Eagles in the past. Now he's off to the American stage, but there's talk of another Ponce-level pitcher landing. It's Chris Flexen, a returning foreign pitcher for the Doosan Bears who pitched like a monster in an exhibition game.

Doosan will play the opening game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park at 2 p.m. on the 28th. Doosan will start Flexen and NC will start Koo Chang-mo, respectively.

Doosan fans' expectations for Flexen are rising. Flexen took the mound in three exhibition games this year and recorded an ERA of 0.73 without losing or losing. He had 11 hits, three walks, 21 strikeouts and one run (one earned) in a total of 12 ⅓ innings. The on-base allowed rate (WHIP) per inning was 1.14 and the hit rate was 0.239.

Based on this strong performance, Flexen overwhelmingly ranked first in the ERA category in the exhibition game. The gap with the second-place group was also wide. Taylor (NC) and Ha Young-min (Kiwoom) tied for second with 2.25. Hanwha Eagles Asian quarter pitcher Wang Yancheng followed with 2.92. In addition, Flexen also ranked first in the strikeout category at the exhibition game. There were three differences from the joint second-place finishers, KIA and Zachlog (18 Doosan, above).

Flexen also pitched five innings of three hits, one walk, and five strikeouts in an exhibition game against KIA at Jamsil Stadium on the 22nd, his latest appearance. And after a five-day break, he will take on the heavy responsibility of starting the opening game.

At the time, Flexen said, "The coach said the ball is currently good, but he said it would be better to reduce the number of balls per inning by three. I pitched focusing on that part. Thanks to the fielders' good defense, I was able to play the planned five innings while reducing the number of pitches, he said. "I'm also working with pitcher Yang Eui-ji." I'm very lucky and honored to be with the catcher at the top of the league. I want to learn more from him in the future," he said.

"It was my last pitching ahead of the regular season. I will take care of my condition until the upcoming opening and show my best performance, he said. "I came back home after a long time, and many fans welcomed me. Even though it was an exhibition game, they filled Jamsil Baseball Stadium, so I could feel the hot heat. In particular, the cheering sound of Doosan fans was amazing. Thank you to the fans who always support us passionately," he said, vowing to do well.

Flexen is the main character who helped Doosan advance to the Korean Series for six consecutive years during the 2020 season when it built a dynasty. In the 2020 season, he took the mound in 21 KBO league games in Doosan's uniform and recorded 8 wins, 4 losses and 3.01 ERA. Above all, he was strong in a big game. In the first round of the semi-playoff against the LG Twins in 2020, he became the winning pitcher with four hits, one walk, 11 strikeouts and no runs in six innings. Doosan showed its strength to drive this momentum to the Korean Series through the playoffs.

Flexen returned to the U.S. stage based on his stellar performance in the KBO League. He signed a two-year, $4.75 million contract with the Seattle Mariners ahead of the 2021 season. In addition, he pitched in 31 games in the 2021 season, recording 14 wins, 6 losses and an ERA of 3.61. He marked 125 strikeouts in 179 ⅔ innings. In the 2021 season, he ranked first in the Seattle club's most wins, starting ERA, and most innings. After that, Flexen, who played for the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox, went 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA for the Chicago Cubs last season.

Then he returned to Doosan and continued his relationship with Korea. At the time of the announcement of Flexen's re-entry, the Doosan club gave trust, saying, "We confirmed that the ball is still there." Flexen then still pitched brilliantly in the exhibition game. Will Flexen be able to establish himself as the best ace in the KBO league beyond Doosan's first starter role.

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*This content was translated by AI.