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| Kiwoom-Hanwha match held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 22nd. In the top of the third inning, there was a war of nerves between Ponce and Lim Ji-yeol, and bench clearing. Ponce is delighted with catcher Choi Jae-hoon after striking out Lim Ji-yeol. Daejeon = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.22/ |
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"Ponce is the best pitcher. But as far as a fastball..."
In the 2025 season of the Hanwha Eagles, Fonsera is happy with foreign pitchers. I knew he was a player with a certain level, but I couldn't get the hang of it because I had failed in Japanese professional baseball. But when I opened the card, it was 'super awesome'. He started 18 games in the first half and recorded 11 wins and no losses with an ERA of 1.95.12 quality starts. It can only be explained by the word overwhelming. Hanwha's first place in the first half in 33 years may have been driven by several factors, but there are many experts who cite Ponce's performance. It is that the presence of 'one-two punch'Weiss, who performed better than expected, was too large for sure ace Ponce. In particular, on the day of Ponce, the opposing teams would say 'It must be hard today' and 'Why doesn't it take us a day for Ponce to take only four days off?' so we can see how great he played.
His fastball speed exceeds 155km, and he can freely sweep, curve, and change-up. The completeness of the breaking ball is also excellent. In particular, the trajectory of the ball itself, which is emitted from a tall height of 1m98, makes batters confused.
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| Ponse and Choi Jae-hoon are on the ground for warm-up in the match between Hanwha and SSG held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 29th. Incheon= Reporter Huh Sang-wook's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.06.29/ |
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It is true that Ponce is a great pitcher, but the reason he can do this well in his unfamiliar league debut season is because he has a great battery partner named Choi Jae-hoon. In the lead of Choi Jae-hoon, who has been through all his life, Ponce can also throw the ball with a more comfortable mind. In fact, Ponce was panicked when Choi Jae-hoon collided with his opponent Park Min-woo and was suspected of injury in a game against the NC Dinos on the 3rd" he confessed. Looking back at the time, Choi Jae-hoon said "Ponse ran over and asked if it was okay. I said I was sick, and I said I prepared medicine, and I said I could take medicine, and I laughed when I introduced the behind-the-scenes story.
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| Hanwha Choi Jae-hoon who collided with KIA first baseman Oh Sun-woo |
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Choi Jae-hoon has been through Doosan Bears and Hanwha since joining the professional league in 2008 and has received balls from numerous pitchers. What kind of pitcher is Choi Jae-hoon's evaluation of Ponce. Choi Jae-hoon explained everything with a single word "Best". Then "You don't have to get excited. Then I think he's the best pitcher" added an explanation.
But there was a twist hidden. Choi Jae-hoon said, `But Nippert was higher than Ponce in fastball. However, considering all the degree of completion of the breaking ball, Ponce" he said. The pitcher's pride and fastball power are the victory of Nippert.
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| Sportschosun DB |
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Nippert is a legendary foreign player who played in the KBO League from 2011 to 2018. He dominated the league with one RBI high fastball from a tall height of 2m3. After seven seasons with Doosan, he played one season with the last KT Wiz and finished his KBO active career. In the 2016 season, he won the MVP award with a phenomenal 22 wins, 3 losses and a 2.95 ERA for Doosan. He led Doosan to consecutive wins in the Korean Series in the 2015 and 2016 seasons and made a name for himself as a leading player in the 「Dusan Dynasty」.
Will Ponce be able to give Hanwha its first championship since 1992 along with Choi Jae-hoon. Choi Jae-hoon said, `Captors always dream of becoming the winning catcher. It's a great honor. We have the Golden Glove, we have many important titles, but what I want now is the winning catcher."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
