Christopher Flexen Jr. (born July 1, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the New York Mets and in the KBO League for the Doosan Bears.
Flexen attended Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California where he was the quarterback of the school’s football team and made the varsity baseball team as a freshman.
Flexen spent 2012 with the Kingsport Mets, where he posted a 1–3 win–loss record with a 5.63 earned run average (ERA) in seven games. Flexen returned to Kingsport for the 2013 season, where he was 8–1 with a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts. In 2014, Flexen played for the Savannah Sand Gnats, where he was 3–5 with a 4.83 ERA in 13 starts.
Among qualified American League pitchers that year, he finished in the top 10 in ERA (3.61), wins (14), ERA+ (111), Fielding Independent Pitching (3.89), and games started (31).
He also recorded the most starts of 7 innings pitched with 1 earned run or fewer allowed among all AL pitchers. Over the course of the 2021 season, he attempted pickoffs at first base 141 times, more than any other major league pitcher, and picked off three runners.
Flexen made the starting rotation to start the 2021 season and made his first start of the year on April 3 against the San Francisco Giants. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowed four hits and two walks, struck out six batters, and was credited with the win. His 2021 season with Seattle represented a marked improvement from his past performances in MLB.