Four years ago, Chris Flexen stood on the mound for the New York Mets for the first time in his MLB career. He was drafted out of Newark Memorial High School and wrangled out of Arizona State by a tempting 375,000 dollar signing bonus. His minor league numbers were great, especially the eye-catching 1.66 ERA, but these numbers would prove to be fleeting. The first batter he faced in the majors, Manuel Margot, homered. This seemed to forecast the rest of his tenure with the Mets. As his time ended there, Flexen had accumulated an unsightly 3-12 record, with a 7.22 ERA over those 3 years. So how does a pitcher go from the bottom of the barrel on the Mets, to the Mariner’s arguably most impressive starter? The answer lies in a one year stint in South Korea.
Chris started his pro career with the New York Mets
After being DFA’d by the Mets in December of 2019, it seemed that Flexen’s young career was all but doomed. That was, until the Doosan Bears took a chance on him. They took special interest in his fastball, a heater that lies just around 94 MPH but was scouted to go up to 96 - an attractive prospect to the Korean team. In America, he seemed to be a victim of prospect burnout, but South Korea seemed to be a fresh start. 6 months later, Flexen found himself on the bump once more, debuting in a new league in a new country. All that change seemed to be the secret sauce that got him right back into his groove. Navigating the new league uncovered Flexen’s most effective weapon: the one-two punch of fastball and curveball. The set up isn’t anything new, but both in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and the MLB, it is tried and true. While Flexen once only relied on speed, he now began to combine the heat with finesse, resulting in less-hittable balls, thus resulting in the ground-outs Mariner fans have come to love. This efficient pitching lead to an impressive 3.01 ERA and perhaps an even more impressive 1.09 WHIP over the entire season. The season ended, and his contract let up.
Flexen in his time with the Doosan Bears of the KBO
On December 9th, 2020, one year and a 6 days after being DFA’d by the Mets, Flexen was signed by the Seattle Mariners, to a 2-year 4.75 million dollar contract. A move that some (me) less educated fans may have discerned heavily. It makes sense that there could have been some backlash. The KBO doesn’t produce a lot of stunning talent, and looking at his MLB numbers, it was hard to believe that enough had changed. But Flexen’s new flyball-limiting approach to pitching proved to be deadly in the MLB as well. As of right now, he sits at a 3.35 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP, leaving his numbers as a Met in the past. The future is bright for the pitcher, and a Mariner fan can only hope that Chris will stick around for quite some time. With other rising stars such as Logan Gilbert and Yusei Kikuchi in the mix, the triple threat that the Mariner’s have going in their rotation could be a force to be reckoned with.
Flexen has been impressive over the first half of the season and hopes to finish the year just as he started
This article was written by Circling Seattle sports co-host and contributor Bennett Bucholz. You can find Bennett on Instagram: @kylo_beno or on twitter: @benb183
Comments