Shushkewich: Dykxhoorn’s 50th CPBL win a highlight in a tough season
Right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) recently registered his 50th win in the Chinese Professional Baseball League — no other Canadian has reached that milestone. Photo: CPBL TV
September 1, 2025
By Tyson Shushkewich
Canadian Baseball Network
It has been a season of highs and lows for right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn.
Entering his sixth season with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, Dykxhoorn was looking to build upon a strong 2024 campaign, where he authored a 2.58 ERA across 122 innings.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t transpired for the 31-year-old this season. He has seen a slight dip in his ERA (4.13) through 21 starts and the same amount of innings (122) while striking out 89 batters and issuing 23 walks.
The veteran arm has seen a slight uptick in hits against (10.0 H/9), and his WHIP sits at 1.311. Even after hitting a major milestone last week, the Lions assigned Dyxkhoorn to the minor leagues.
On Friday against the Fubon Guardians, the right-hander from Goderich, Ont., notched his 50th career win in the CPBL. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out five. This was Dyxkhoorn’s seventh win of the season and one of his strongest starts. This most recent win has him tied for 26th in CPBL history in wins (while being the highest ranking Canuck).
Opposing teams have hit around the right-hander this year, but Dyxhoorn’s demotion to the minor leagues is still a bit puzzling.
After a strong start to the season, Dykxhoorn’s ERA sat between 3.00-4.00 for most of the campaign until early August, when it sat at 4.11 after a loss against the TSG Hawks on August 9 in which he allowed six earned runs. It has remained on the other side of the 4.00 mark since then.
On the season, Dyxhoorn has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 14 of his 21 outings (66.67%) and owns a minuscule 1.8 BB/9 while surrendering just eight home runs, good enough for a 0.6 HR/9. He had the most starts and the most innings on the team at the time of his demotion.
For his Lions career, Dyxkhoorn owns a 3.05 ERA with a 50-30 record across 119 outings, 115 of which are starts. He also boasts a 1.13 WHIP through 718 innings and has been one of the go-to arms in the rotation since making his debut with the squad back in 2020. Dyxkhoorn earned the Canadian Baseball Network’s Claude Pelletier Award, for the top Canadian arm in unaffiliated baseball, in 2021 and 2023.
With only four foreign players allowed on each team (organizationally) and only three permitted on the active roster, the Lions have added right-hander Jackson Stephens, who they signed on August 22, with Dyxkhoorn heading to the minors.
The move may be temporary, as he must remain in the minor leagues for at least a week before any potential call-up, but until then, Dyxkhoorn will be battling to get back to the big league stage overseas.
For the season, the Lions own a 54-43 record. They finished in first place during the first half of the campaign (36-24) and have already qualified for the postseason with a month of games left.