Can Chris Flexen (29, Seattle Mariners), the ’10 billion pitcher’ from the KBO League, get a starting spot again? First of all, the first appearance of spring camp went smoothly.

On the 28th (hereinafter Korean time), Flexen started in the major league spring camp exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox held at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, USA, and came down the mound after 2 innings, 2 hits, 2 strikeouts and no runs. .

In the first inning, Tim Anderson struck out third baseman on a ground ball, Louis Robert Jr. struck out on a swing, and Andrew Benintendi struck out with a looking strikeout to start off smoothly. In the second inning, Illroy Jimenez was grounded by shortstop and Yoan Moncada was grounded by second baseman. After two outs, Andrew Vaughn and Yasmani Grandal hit consecutive hits, putting the two out and 1st and 2nd bases in danger, but finished the day’s mission by returning Gavin Sheets to a grounder at first base.

Flexen, who played an active role as a foreign pitcher for the Doosan Bears in the 2020 KBO League, failed to digest full-time due to injuries during the regular season, leaving a record of 8 wins (4 losses) and an average ERA of 3.01. However, he dominated the postseason with a powerful pitch, and thanks to this, he made a U-turn to the major leagues. 온라인카지노

Flexen, who signed a contract with Seattle for up to $12.75 million (approximately 16.8 billion won) in 2+1 years, suddenly became the team’s ace with an average ERA of 3.61 with 14 wins and 6 losses in 31 games and 179⅔ innings in 2021. With a tie for 6th place in the Major League and a tie for 2nd place in the American League, he completely threw away the title of “failed prospect”. The moment when another success story from the KBO League was born.

Last year, he recorded an average ERA of 3.73 with 8 wins and 9 losses in 33 games and 137⅔ innings. He was moved from the starter to the bullpen late in the season, and stayed in the bullpen during Seattle’s postseason run.

Flexen, who has already played for the past two years and received an option contract worth $8 million (approximately 10.5 billion won) in 2023, which is automatically executed when he reaches 300 innings. However, he was not free from trade rumors ahead of this year. He was a pleasant interest. Clubs that wanted to start made inquiries about Flexen, but Seattle did not sell it.

The four starting pitchers of Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby are all set. Flexen is competing with Marco Gonzalez and others for the fifth start. As he put his first button well, the competition for selection began smoothly.