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With strong support system, Eagles ace Ponce having blast in first KBO season

Published: 10 May. 2025, 11:03

Hanwha Eagles starter Cody Ponce walks off the mound after retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game against the Kia Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on May 4. [YONHAP]

Between going undefeated in his first eight starts and lifting his team to first place in the South Korean league, Hanwha Eagles pitcher Cody Ponce is having fun playing baseball again.

Speaking to reporters Friday before the Eagles' road game against the Kiwoom Heroes in Seoul, Ponce was thankful for the support he has received from "everybody in this organization" so far in his first KBO season. Without that, he doesn't think he would have been voted the Player of the Month for the March-April period.

During that stretch, Ponce went 5-0 with a 1.96 ERA and struck out a league-best 61 strikeouts in 46 innings. The Eagles won six of Ponce's seven starts from March to April.

"That's all I can really say: very grateful to all of my coaches for putting the game plans together, to my catchers, to all my defenders and everybody who just performs on the offense that's been behind me each and every game," Ponce said in the visitors' dugout at Gocheok Sky Dome. "I don't think I can express how much honor and gratitude I have towards everybody in this organization who's been there since Day One. There's so much love and support and charisma on this team that it makes it fun to play on."

Ponce had a 20-game cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Pirates between 2020 and 2021 and spent the next three seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from 2022 to 2023 and then the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2024.

Ponce described his time in Japan as "unfortunate" because, "I had great teams and great coaches, but when I was down, I didn't know how to get myself out of that down."

Ponce had to remind himself that there would always be a light at the end of the tunnel. He then moved to Korea, trying to savor every moment on the field.

"Just remembering that I get to step on that mound once every five days and I get to go do this for a living," he said. "There are little kids who come out, and their parents pay a lot of money to come watch all of us play. So let's put on the best show that we can of who we are. And I don't want to change who I am. I'll always be the big bear, the loud guy."

Being surrounded by talented teammates on what has been the most dominant starting rotation in the KBO also helps.

Ponce said there are elements of competition and support with his fellow starters, including former major league ERA king Ryu Hyun-jin, second-year U.S. pitcher Ryan Weiss and the 2023 KBO Rookie of the Year Moon Dong-ju. Prior to Friday's game, the Eagles' rotation ranked first in the KBO in wins (20) and strikeouts (220) and had allowed the fewest walks (59) and the lowest opponents' on-base plus slugging (.618).

"I think it's just a constant competition. You want to do better than the guy in front of you," Ponce said. "It's a fun competition between all the five starters that keeps the competitive edge always right next to each other. But I also think we want (the others) to do better than us. So it's not so much of a competition but a support behind it as well."

The Eagles took a nine-game winning streak into Friday's game and they had also won eight in a row prior to that run. They have climbed all the way from last place on April 9 to first place in the 10-team league by Wednesday.

Ponce admitted that winning adds to the fun, but he also understands that his team will hit a rough patch at some point down the road. The key is to stay on an even keel for the long haul.

"Winning is a blast, but you also have to remember that you're going to lose. So don't feel like we're down in the hole right away," he said. "The season's going to be the ups and downs, but it's who can keep that level head the longest to be able to get into the playoffs."

Ponce said he was honored to have become the first foreign pitcher for the Eagles to win the top monthly prize, but he also has a bigger fish to fry.

"Winning (the award) is great, but it's the beginning of the year, and it's one month down out of six," he said. "My main goal is just to stay healthy to be able to step on that mound every five or six days, whatever it may be, and compete and give us the best chance I can to win a game to take us into the playoffs and hopefully win the Korean Series."

Yonhap