Cody Ponce (31, Hanwha Eagles), who was selected as a starting pitcher for the professional baseball All-Star Best 12, threw with his left hand while wearing Ryu Hyun-jin's Toronto Blue Jays uniform.
On the 12th, Ponce made a start at the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO All-Star Game held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagle's Park, recording 1 inning, 1 hit allowed, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 1 earned run (unearned).
Ponce was anything but ordinary from the moment he took the mound. He appeared on the ground wearing a Star Wars costume, having previously watched the movie to control his mindset. He personally purchased all the props with his own money from America.
Upon taking the mound, Ponce changed into Ryu Hyun-jin's Major League Toronto uniform. After finishing the game against Daejeon KT on the 3rd of last month, he noted, "I will throw left-handed like Ryu Hyun-jin once I step onto the All-Star stage. I want to follow Ryu Hyun-jin's windup and all pitching motions exactly and throw."
Before officially beginning his pitches, he truly showcased a left-handed pitching performance. Once Ponce put on a glove on his right hand, left-handed batter Gu Ja-wook, batting first for the Dream All-Stars, stepped into the right-handed box. Then, Gu Ja-wook swung and missed at Ponce's high-arcing Arirang ball.
After taking off the Toronto uniform again and putting on a glove on his left hand, Ponce started pitching officially as a 'right-handed pitcher.' Throwing with his right hand made the ball come much faster. On his sixth pitch, he got Gu Ja-wook to strike out swinging with a fastball clocked at 153 km/h.
Next, Ponce threw a slow curve to Víctor Reyes, who entered the batter's box in a traditional Korean hanbok, resulting in another strikeout. He then threw a fastball clocked at 156 km/h to Choi Jeong right from the first pitch. When Choi Jeong fouled it off, Ponce followed up with a 154 km/h fastball on the second pitch, targeting the inside.
The next pitch hit Choi Jeong's left elbow protector, prompting a startled Ponce to immediately take off his cap and bow at a 90-degree angle, approaching Choi Jeong to express his apologies. Choi Jeong, who was hit by the pitch in the All-Star Game, responded by patting Ponce on the shoulder to signal that it was okay.
Following that, a wild pitch occurred on the second pitch to Lewin Díaz, resulting in two outs and a runner on second base, and Ponce allowed an infield hit to the shortstop. This resulted in the first run allowed. However, he finished his mound appearance by striking out Jeon Jun-woo on three pitches.
With a total of 20 pitches thrown, 18 of which were strikes, he reached a top speed of 156 km/h, averaging 150 km/h with 14 fastballs while also throwing five curves and one slider. As the leader in strikeouts in the first half of the season (161), he asserted his dominance in the All-Star Game by striking out all three batters he faced.
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