Ohtani's team is also watching. The strongest monster in KBO history starts at 20 billion won

Aug 23, 2025

Ohtani's team is also watching. The strongest monster in KBO history starts at 20 billion won
The game between the Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 12th. Hanwha starter Ponce pitched seven scoreless innings. Ponce coming down the mound after pitching in the seventh inning. Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.12/



I watch Otani Shohei's team, too. Will Cody Ponce, who actually dominated the KBO League, leave for the Major League in a year.

Hanwha Eagles Ponce is the strongest pitcher in the league this season. Ponce, who recently skipped the rotation due to enteritis symptoms, started against SSG Landers at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 22nd.

Recently, he has not been in good shape, and his face has become slim at a glance due to symptoms of enteritis. Nonetheless, Ponce pitched his best of the day. In seven innings, he allowed three hits, nine strikeouts, one walk, and no runs. Although he did not win due to his failure to support scoring, he did not lose again this time.




Including the game, Ponce's season record was 15 wins, no losses, a 1.53 ERA, 17 quality starts out of 24 games and 211 strikeouts in 152 ⅔ innings. WHIP is only 0.84 and the hit rate is only 0.183.

Currently, he leads the league in four categories with the lowest ERA, multiple wins, first win rate, and first strikeout. In fact, Ponce is the number one title that a starting pitcher can aim for.

Ohtani's team is also watching. The strongest monster in KBO history starts at 20 billion won
The match between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 30th. Hanwha Ponce is catching his breath. Daejeon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.30/
Although he received a lot of help from the team currently in second place, Ponce's pitch itself is flawless. Up to 150 kilometers in the second half, the pitch of the fastball and various high-quality breaking balls. Although Ponce, who actually entered the KBO League, was stronger than expected because he was considered a groundball-guided pitcher due to many falling type pitches. The ball speed became faster than when he played in Japan, and as the completion of the pitch increased, the number of strikeouts increased. In fact, it became 'Untouchable'.




The report on Ponce has already been constantly updated by major league clubs. A Major League scout also visited Daejeon on the 22nd, when he took the mound for the first time in 10 days. The team visited on this day is the team where Ohtani plays. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers, the winner of last year's World Series.

Not only the Dodgers, but several teams already continue to follow Ponce. It is not surprising that Major League scouts observe good players in the KBO League. However, scouts rarely go to provincial games other than the metropolitan area. That's because they're more active and have a clear purpose

Ohtani's team is also watching. The strongest monster in KBO history starts at 20 billion won
The match between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 30th. Hanwha starter Ponce roared after pitching six scoreless innings. Daejeon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.30/
An official from the Hanwha team explained that almost all games where Ponce takes the mound are scouts from the Major League.




In the recent atmosphere, Eric Pedi, who won the KBO League MVP in 2023 and signed a two-year, big league contract with the Chicago White Sox for $15 million (about 20.7 billion won), is expected to be possible. Ponce's performance this year is stronger than Peddy's performance in the 2023 season. This is evidenced by the fact that he is breaking various league records, including the record of 18K strikeouts in the regular innings, the record of 15 consecutive wins in the opening game, and the record of 200 strikeouts in the minimum game. It is no exaggeration that if Ponce returns to the big league, the offer amount will start at 20 billion won.

The only thing Ponce had to prove was durability. Even when he played in Japan, he never filled the regular innings, and there was an injury issue every year. This is why he failed to renew his contract with the Japanese team this year. Other KBO League clubs also saw Ponce's risk of injury seriously.

Ohtani's team is also watching. The strongest monster in KBO history starts at 20 billion won
The match between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 30th. The winning Hanwha starter Ponce is delighted. Daejeon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.30/
However, the performance at Hanwha this year is different. Recently, he had symptoms of shoulder clumping and skipped the rotation once due to enteritis, but he was not injured enough to miss the entry. Rather, it is strengthening the team's 'Ace' aspect more clearly in the second half. There have been only three games in which Ponce has allowed more than four runs this season. That is all before the beginning of June. In the last two months, he has had one earned run or zero earned runs. It's even more amazing because it's a time when your physical strength is bound to drop.

Ponce doesn't have a big league career. He only went 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in 20 games in the 2020-2021 season, and spent most of his time in the minors. Rather, it is a case of further growth in Asia.

Of course, Hanwha should seek to renew its contract with Ponce next year, but considering the salary cap of foreign players, there is no real way to win the 'money game' with major league clubs.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.