All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of $20 Million

Nov 30, 2025

All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of 20 Million
Cody Ponce during the Pittsburgh Pirates. AP Yonhap News



All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of 20 Million
Cody Ponce poses after being named MVP of the 2025 KBO Awards at Lotte Hotel in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 24th. Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com
The stock price of KBO League MVP Cody Ponce is rising day by day.

The Athletic, a local U.S. media outlet, recently shed light on Ponce's value in an article titled 「FA, Tatsuya Imai to Cody Ponce」, which can be an unexpectedly good recruit.

Columnist Inno Sarris, who wrote the article, explained their respective values, citing Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai, third baseman Alex Bregman, right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley and Ponce as 'blue chips with high investment value'. Among them, it was reported on the 30th that Helsley agreed to a two-year, $28 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles.




Ponce is considered a candidate to take over the baton of Merrill Kelly and Eric Peddy, who are considered successful cases among pitchers who have moved back to the U.S. from Korea. Of course, Peddy left the KBO in 2024 to enter the Major League and had a successful season with 31 games, 177 ⅓ innings, a 3.30 ERA, and 154 strikeouts with the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, before moving to St. Louis, Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers this year, but was briefly spotlighted as a top starter.

However, Sarris said Ponce has much higher potential than Kelly or Pedi.

All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of 20 Million
Hanwha Eagles Cody Ponce is defending in the top of the third inning against the Kiwoom Heroes in Daejeon on September 13. Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com
All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of 20 Million
Maryl Kelly is considered the best success story in the major leagues from outside the KBO. AP Yonhap News
He said 'All major league clubs want the next Merrill Kelly when they bring in a pitcher who's played in Korea. Will be happy with the next Eric Peddy rather than the next Josh Lindblom. What is the difference between successful pitchers who came from KBO to MLB and pitchers who have suffered a slump?After rhyming ' Kelly increased the restraint and fitted the cutter. Peddy failed to increase his confinement, but after returning to the U.S., he threw the sweeper the second most. 'The good news for the club signing Ponce is that he has achieved both.'"

The two are that the speed of the fastball has increased, and the second type of pitch to support the fastball is equipped with a splitter as the main weapon.

Harris said his fastball speed, which averaged 93 miles in 2020-2021, has increased by about 2 miles for the Hanwha Eagles. The speed of his fastball has doubled the power of his breaking ball, which did not make much of an impression when he made his Major League debut. 'His new pitch has become the second most thrown repertoire after his fastball with a splitter. As a result, Ponce has a higher strikeout rate than any other pitcher who has moved to the big leagues from Korea.

All-time pitcher who only combines Kelly's and Peddy's strengths is coming from Korea! ML's Best Blue Chip in the Market for Starting Pitchers, Total of 20 Million
Eric Peddy has traveled to St. Louis, Atlanta and Milwaukee this season. UPI Yonhap News
During his 55 ⅓ innings between 2020 and 2021 when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ponce had a maximum speed of 95.8 miles and an average of 93.2 miles. However, in Hanwha this season, the speed of fastballs has increased to a maximum of 99 miles and an average of 94 to 97 miles. In addition to this, a splitter that was not thrown in Pittsburgh was added to diversify the repertoire and increase strikeouts.




Ponce marked 29 games, 180 ⅔ innings, 17-1 record, 1.89 ERA, 252 strikeouts and a winning percentage of 0.944 this season. Strikeouts are the most in a KBO season, and the percentage is 36%. In particular, he became the first foreign player to win four pitchers with traditional concepts such as multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage. In modern baseball, pitching innings ranked second, WHIP first, hit rate (0.199) third, and strikeout (6.15) compared to walks. Based on this, he was named MVP.

Sarris predicted that the highest price for a KBO pitcher is $15 million for two years, and Ponce is worth more than this. The ransom expected by leading local media for Ponce is $18 million for ESPN two years, $22 million for MLBTR two years, and $24 million for the FanGraphs three years. Sarris also seems to have referred to this.

A starting pitcher is a position that all clubs want to reinforce. The St. Louis, White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs are considered potential demand clubs for Ponce.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.