Super perfect back-to-back pitching. Cody Ponce, the best pitcher in the KBO League right now. At this rate, re-entering the Major League is not a dream.메이저사이트

In the first game of a doubleheader against the SSG Landers in Daejeon on Sunday, the Hanwha Eagles' Ponce displayed a truly "one-man show." Hanwha, which had lost three consecutive games before the game, had to end its losing streak. Ponce took the lead.

Ponce struck out at breakneck speed from the first inning. SSG batters also tried hard to cope with Ponce's fastballs and bending and falling breaking balls, but all of them were in vain.

Ponce struck out all three outs in the first inning, adding two in the second inning, two in the third inning, four in the fourth inning and two in the fifth inning. Ponce, who showed an outstanding strikeout pace through the fifth inning, continued to win after the sixth inning. He struck out all three outs in the sixth inning again, and added two strikeouts in the seventh inning.

With the number of pitches approaching 100 by the 7th inning, he has already broken the record for the most strikeouts (14 previous records) in a single KBO foreign player game and took the mound in the 8th inning. And while striking out McBroom, the first batter, he struck out 17K and Choi Jun-woo, the next batter, to complete 18K.

He had been a "no-hitter" up until this point. Except for one walk, no one could reach first base. After striking out 18, Ponce, who threw well over 100 pitches, got his first hit by Ahn Sang-hyun, followed by Jung Joon-jae. However, he pitched in the eighth inning by throwing Shin a fly to the left field. He had two hits, 18 strikeouts, and one walk in eight innings, allowing no run. Hanwha won the game 1-0, breaking its losing streak and giving Ponce the eighth win of the season.

He has won eight games with a 1.48 ERA in 10 consecutive games. He has won seven consecutive games in the past. All of them were quality starts except for allowing two runs in five innings against the KT Wiz on March 22, his first appearance of the season, and four runs in six innings against the Doosan Bears on April 9.

Ponce has been listed as the league's lowest ERA (1.48), tied for first in multiple wins (8 wins), and first in strikeouts (93K).

It is no exaggeration to say that he is the best pitcher in the KBO League so far this season. There are many good pitchers such as James Nail (KIA) and Tucker Davidson (Lotte), but among them, he is a good pitcher the more he or she reads the details.

A club official said, "He is by far the best pitcher so far. He is similar to Hector (former KIA), but it is like an upgraded version of Hector. His ball power is better than Hector at the time, but he has as good a game management ability as Hector."

Hector Noesi, a Dominican Republic native who played for the KIA Tigers in the 2016-2018 season, is one of the best foreign pitchers ever who led KIA to a combined championship with 20 wins in the 2017 season and garnered 46 wins in the three years he played in the KBO League. However, it means that Ponce's performance now is more than Hector at the time.

It is not a dream to export to the Major League as it is. Ponce had experience in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2020-2021 season, but he was not actually a highly competitive pitcher in the big leagues. And playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for three seasons and gaining experience in Asian baseball came as an advantage for domestic teams.

However, Ponce has transformed into a much more competitive pitcher this year, thanks to his faster speed than when he was playing in the Major League, more sophisticated pitching capability and experience in dealing with tricky Asian league hitters. Given that he was born in 1994 and is still in his early 30s, he is capable of dreaming of becoming a major league player again.

The only concern is the injury issue. During the three years he played in Japan, Ponce failed to meet the required innings. He pitched 83 innings in the 2022 season. He also had the disgrace of being a "glass body."

This season, however, he is showing off his performance as a pitcher without any discomfort. As long as he is not sick, he can spend the Monster season in Korea as a pitcher with higher than Eric Peddy (former NC).