It’s a shocking downfall. A player who lived up to the myth of the “reverse export” by returning to the major leagues after playing in the KBO is now facing the biggest crisis of his baseball career.
토토사이트 Chris Flexen, 29, joined the Doosan Bears in 2020, looking for a new challenge, and after going 3-11 with an 8.07 ERA in the New York Mets from 2017-2019, he went 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA in the regular season and became a true ace in the postseason, leading Doosan to the Korean Series.
His success in Korea would soon turn his life around. Flexen signed a 2+1 year, $12.75 million contract with the Seattle Mariners ahead of the 2021 season, and he went 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA in 2021, serving as Seattle’s primary starter and exemplifying the myth of the reverse export. Last year, he had a solid season, going 8-9 with a 3.73 ERA while splitting time between starting and relieving.
In fact, Flexen’s contract was only guaranteed for two years and $4.75 million, but there was a vesting option for $8 million in 2023 if he pitched 300 or more innings in 2021 and 2022, and he easily fulfilled it, throwing 179⅔ innings in 2021 and 137⅔ in 2022.
The problem came next. While his price tag has increased, Flexen hasn’t pitched to match it. After being released by Seattle after four losses and a 7.71 ERA, Flexen is now 1-1 with an 8.53 ERA for the Colorado Rockies.
Flexen pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. Starting on the mound, Flexen struggled, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings, raising his season ERA to 7.92.
Flexen’s fastball touched 93.8 mph (151 km/h) on the day. He threw a variety of pitches, including a four-seam fastball (55), cutter (28), changeup (12), slider (9) and curveball (2), but to no avail, especially in the bottom of the fifth, when he gave up a two-run homer to Willy Adames in left-center and a solo shot to Andrew Monasterio in left-center to make it 4-5.
After hanging his head on the back-to-back homers, Flexen has been on a shocking run this year, allowing 17 earned runs in 55⅔ innings. In 2021, his first season in Seattle, he gave up 19 homers in 179⅔ innings, and last year he gave up 17 homers in 137⅔ innings, but this year he’s turned into a home run factory. How long will Flexen’s shocking decline continue? He’s a free agent after this season, and at this rate, it’s doubtful he’ll ever knock on the door of the big leagues again.