Isn't he the best pitcher in the KBO League so far?"

Lee Bum-ho, manager of the KIA Tigers, also fell in love with him.

Hanwha Eagles foreign pitcher Cody Ponce captured Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon's heart as well as the enemy's heart by pitching brilliantly even though it was early in the season.카지노사이트

Ponce started in the first game of the season against KIA of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 28th and pitched seven innings of seven hits (one homer) with one out and eight strikeouts with two runs. He recorded not only his KBO league debut win but also quality start plus (three earned runs or less in seven innings as a starter).

On the day, Ponce threw 105 pitches. He hit the highest speed of 156 kilometers fastball catcher's mitt. He hit a homer to Patrick Wisdom, a former ML 88-homer, but he became the winning pitcher of Hanwha's historic opening game thanks to his stable pitching.

After the fifth inning, he gathered his teammates to deliver a speech to renew his commitment to victory. "After the fifth inning, I said, 'I trust you guys.' I told the fielders, 'If we score just one point, it will go well, so let's cheer up.' Ponce explained, 'I was able to become a winning pitcher because I gave up so many points after the seventh inning.'

"Ponse is a strong player. Maybe he turned the tables again because of his actions after the fifth inning," coach Kim Kyung-moon said. "I'm grateful that he pitched six innings instead of seven. But I was so thankful that he pitched until the seventh inning."

Manager Lee Bum-ho said, "I loved it. I talked with commentator Park Yong-taek, and he is the best pitcher ever."

"He threw the changeup perfectly. It doesn't feel like the catcher is blocking, but he throws it all over the strike zone. I definitely thought he practiced a lot of those balls in Japan. He threw well."

Ponce is a foreign player who is wearing a Hanwha uniform for a total of 1 million U.S. dollars ahead of this season. Ponce is an athlete whose strength is fastball that comes from his 198-centimeter-tall stature, and has various pitching types and compliance with ball control.

While playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the U.S. Major League in 2020 and 2021, he recorded one win, seven losses and a 5.86 ERA in 20 games (55 ⅓ innings). He also played for the Nippon Ham Fighters and Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Japanese professional baseball league from 2022 to last year, with 10 wins, 16 losses and a 4.54 ERA in 39 games (202 innings).

He is adapting himself to the KBO League smoothly. He garnered fans' attention by throwing fastballs that ranged over 153 kilometers from the exhibition game. At the game against the Suwon KT Wiz on Sunday, when he made his KBO League debut, he also had seven hits, one strikeout and two runs in five innings. He has one win and 12 strikeouts with zero earned run in two games.

Will Ponce capture not only the enemy but also the hearts of Hanwha fans in the future.

Ponce said, "It's an honor to be able to throw in the opening game at home, but I'm really happy that I became a winning pitcher in my first official game at a new stadium. It's all the strength of my teammates who wanted to win with one mind," adding, "The fans have a lot of energy. I will do my best on the mound so that I can receive this shout in the future," he said.