Hanwha Eagles pitcher Cody Ponce set a record with 18 strikeouts in a single game on Sept. 26. “Surpassing the most respected pitcher, Ryu Hyun-jin, a new history for the league is being written,” Commentator Seong-Wook Kwon said. The ace made history during the 2025 Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) season with a phenomenal trajectory that left fans across the nation stunned.
Cody Ponce joined the Hanwha Eagles as a free agent in December of 2024. He came to Korea with prior experience in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates and two different Japanese teams, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Now, the Eagles pitcher expects to make his long-awaited return to the American majors.
Ponce’s path displays a familiar pattern. Over the past decade, several players who struggled in the United States have revived their careers in Korea before returning to the MLB. Notable players include Eric Thames and Erick Fedde, both of whom rebuilt their reputations in the KBO and earned another shot to the Major Leagues.
In Japan, scouts regarded Ponce as a pitcher who could not throw beyond the typical 143 innings per season due to a fragile physique. Despite concerns about his arm, Hanwha Eagles fans welcomed him with optimism, hoping he could lead the team’s pitching rotation.
Living up to the fans’ expectations, he posted an ERA (earned run average) under 2.00 and recorded over 226 strikeouts in a single season, with only one loss – a league record. Such dominance made him a strong MVP candidate, catching the attention of MLB scouts once again.
Sophomore Claire Kim, a Hanwha Eagles fan, praised Ponce for his astounding gameplay. “It’s fantastic that he can strike out about 240 players in just a season. He keeps showing up and performing with great stamina,” Kim said. Fans believe his return to the MLB is only a matter of time.
A similar story played out with Eric Thames of the NC Dinos. Thames became the first batter in Asia with a 40-40 record (40 home runs, 40 bases stolen) in a single season. He instilled fear in the opposing team whenever he stood at the plate. A .349 batting average and .721 slugging percentage (the total number of bases per at-bat) caught the attention of MLB scouts, igniting his return to the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and later the Washington Nationals.
Like Thames at the plate, as a pitcher, Cody Ponce on the mound struck fear into opposing players as well as fans. Managers of the NC Dinos and LG Twins pleaded for an off day from the Eagles’ ace. As the media described his pitching as overwhelming, fans also watched in disbelief as their players struck out against Ponce’s mid-150 km/h (around 95 mph) fastballs. “I hope he goes to the MLB soon, because I don’t want him pitching against the Dinos,” Yeonhoo Park, tenth grader and follower of NC Dinos said.
Despite the praise, not everyone believes Ponce will excel again in the MLB. Daisy Chae, an avid Samsung Lions fan in seventh grade, doubts his future comeback. “He will get another chance, but it’s going to be rough. His fastball and change-up simply didn’t fool MLB batters the way they do in the KBO, and I doubt they’ll suddenly become a strikeout combination at the highest level.”
Her concerns mirror those that people held about past dominant KBO players, who struggled after returning to the States. A former KBO MVP, Erick Fedde, earned six awards in the 2023 season. Yet, his comeback with the St. Louis Cardinals was rocky to say the least. He began to lose control of his pitches, and scouting reports rated him as one of the league’s worst starters, eventually leading to his release.
Still, Ponce’s transformation with the Hanwha Eagles rebuilt his career and put him back on scouts’ radars. Whether he follows in the footsteps of Thames or Fedde seems unclear, but KBO fans will cheer him on wherever he pitches.
