After four seasons playing internationally, Cody Ponce is making his return to Major League Baseball, where he has reportedly agreed to sign a three-year, $30 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ponce made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020. In two seasons with the team, he had a 5.86 ERA in 20 games, making five starts. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball from 2022-24. He spent two seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and one season with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
In 39 Pacific League games, he had a 4.54 ERA and threw two complete games. He signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2025 season. His season in Korea was phenomenal.
Ponce was the KBO League MVP and, as a result, signed the largest contract ever for a domestic player returning from the Korea Baseball Organization, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ponce had a 1.89 ERA in 29 starts and recorded 252 strikeouts. He set the single-season strikeout record in 180 2/3 innings of work. He is a completely different pitcher now than he was with the Pirates.
In 2020 and 2021, his four-seam fastball averaged 93.2 mph. Now, his fastball sits at 95 mph and tops out at 98 mph. Ponce is also using a new kick-changeup now as his secondary pitch. He only threw 79 total changeups while he was in the big leagues.
According to Marquee Sports Network’s Lance Brozdowski, his new changeup sits at 87.6 mph and has 15 inches of vertical break separation from his fastball.
Ponce proved plenty of things in the KBO, including that he can handle a starter’s workload. He also proved he can rack up strikeouts, striking out 36.2% of batters, the highest rate of any season at any level in his career.
Ponce’s MVP season had no shortage of special moments, but the biggest came on May 17, when he set the KBO single-game record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, breaking a record previously held by Hyun Jin Ryu. Ponce grew up a fan of Ryu while he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Yonhap News’ Jeeho Yoo. Ponce got to share the field with Ryu last season on the Eagles and even wore his Toronto Blue Jays jersey during the 2025 KBO All-Star Game.
Now, Ponce will get a chance to pitch for the team Ryu played four seasons for. Ponce is the second major pitching addition by the Blue Jays this offseason. The team signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year deal as well.
Ponce comes back to MLB with high expectations now. The Blue Jays are trying to get back to the World Series and are putting faith in Ponce to play a big part in getting them there. Ponce, Cease, Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber could be the best rotation in the American League.
Photo: Cody Ponce of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
