Oh! The first starter of 'Lightning' was finally announced as a shock to his shoulder injury, and he was a Ponce-class player in 'No. 1 and No. 1.' → Will he be selected as a 'new foreigner' in the end

*This content was translated by AI.

The Doosan Bears, who have rarely accumulated wins at the beginning of the season, have encountered a huge reef called ace departure. Chris Flexen, the "first starter foreign ace," suffered a shoulder injury. Following "Veteran" Choi Won-joon, Flexen is also out, drawing attention to how Doosan can overcome the crisis.

An official from Doosan said on the 4th, "Flexen was examined at the hospital on this day," and added, "As a result of the examination, he was diagnosed with damage to the sub-shoulder muscles on his right shoulder." We will focus on recovery for the next four weeks and then undergo a re-examination," he officially announced.

Before announcing the results of the examination, Doosan canceled Flexen from the first-team entry ahead of the home game against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Stadium.

It is a painful departure for Doosan. Doosan also lost 3-9 against Hanwha on the same day, recording one win, one draw and five losses. Doosan moved to Daegu after finishing the opening two consecutive games in Changwon with one win and one loss on the 28th and 29th of last month. And he came to Seoul with one draw and two losses in three consecutive games during the week with the Samsung Lions, and gave up two consecutive games. It has been four consecutive losses recently.

In such a crisis situation, an ace who can break the losing streak was injured.

Flexen started the regular season opener against the NC Dinos on the 28th of last month, and after marking two runs (two earned) with three strikeouts and two runs (two earned runs) with two hits (one homer) and five walks in four innings. It was the last three days that he was injured. At that time, he started against Hanwha at Jamsil Stadium and was suddenly replaced after complaining of pain in his back during the pitching process at the top of the second inning.

At that time, as soon as Flexen took the mound in the first inning, he handled leadoff hitter Oh Jae-won with a fly ball to left field for the seventh time after a close game of full count. He then induced Peraza to ground out to second base on the second pitch and threw a hit ball to his follow-up Moon Hyun-bin. However, No. 4 hitter Noh Si-hwan threw a cutter on the second pitch and handled a fly ball to right field. The maximum speed at one time was 148 kilometers.

And the top of the second inning when both teams faced 0-0. Flexen took the mound again. The leadoff hitter is Kang Baekho. However, Flexen's restraint was somewhat strange. The maximum speed against Kang was only 143 kilometers. In the end, he threw three balls in a row, hit one strike on the fourth pitch, and threw the ball again on the fifth pitch. a walk allowed.

At this time, Flexen complained of some discomfort. Doosan pitching coach Chung Jae-hoon and trainer then came to the mound and talked with Flexen to check the condition, and signs headed to the bench that it was difficult to pitch anymore. Flexen headed to the dugout with a regretful look on his face. At the time, a Doosan official explained, "I changed it because I felt uncomfortable on the right back, but I was eventually diagnosed with shoulder muscle damage."

Doosan has experienced Brendan Waddell, a foreign pitcher at the time of the 2024 season, leaving at the end of June due to damage to his left shoulder scapular muscles. At that time, there was talk of rehabilitation for about a month, and he tried to return by throwing the ball little by little since early August, but he felt pain again and eventually failed to make the entry for the wild card final.

Prior to the game on the 4th, Doosan manager Kim Won-hyung said, "When I warmed up before the game, there was no abnormality at all. "It suddenly happened on the mound," he said. "As an alternative starter, we have one of the pitchers throwing in the second division in mind. Coincidentally, there is a pitcher who can enter that timing," he said.

Choi Won-joon, who signed a free agent (FA) contract for "up to 3.8 billion won for four years" prior to this season, has already left the lineup due to injury. Coach Kim said of Choi Won-joon on the 3rd, "A diagnosis of micro injury to the right flexor muscle was made. You have to take a break for about three weeks, he said. If Choi Won-joon was not hurt, he could have filled Flexen's gap for a while, but even this became difficult. Currently, it seems that it is necessary to consider joining an alternative foreign or new foreign pitcher.

Meanwhile, 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." He also showed good performance in the exhibition game. He took the mound in three exhibition games this year and recorded an ERA of 0.73 without winning 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 his strong performance, Flexen ranked first in ERA and strikeouts in exhibition games. Some even say he is a Cody Ponce (Toronto Blue Jays) pitcher who returned to the big league stage after overcoming the KBO league last season. However, an unexpected shoulder injury has forced him to sit out for at least a month. How will Doosan overcome this crisis.

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*This content was translated by AI.