After MVP season in South Korea, Ponce ready for big-league return with Blue Jays

TORONTO – When an attempt to find his pitching form in Japan wasn’t bearing fruit after a brief stint in the major leagues, Toronto right-hander Cody Ponce tried emulating his brother-in-law’s sporting mindset.

It helped lead to a big turnaround on the mound and now a three-year, US$30-million contract with the Blue Jays. 

“He helped me bring out my inner child again,” Ponce said Tuesday night on a video call. “And that was something that I felt like I was lacking for the two years prior while I was in Japan.”

A journeyman career changed dramatically in 2025 as Ponce posted a 17-1 record over 29 starts with the Hanwha Eagles. He also had 252 strikeouts and a 1.89 earned-run average to win the most valuable player award in South Korea’s KBO League. 

Ponce gave credit to his wife, family, teammates and brother-in-law George Kittle — a San Francisco 49ers tight end — who he said keeps things light at times on the gridiron despite the sport’s physical intensity. 

“I saw the way he was playing the game of football and was not in awe, but (more) in this view of, ‘Wow, you can play such an angry game and be having fun at the same time, but yet still have this type of tenacity, this type of drive, this type of competitiveness and be doing it all at the same time.’

“I was like, ‘That is something that I want to try to figure out.'”

Ponce said he has adjusted his approach so that he feels more like a Little Leaguer again. He has made it a point to watch Star Wars — sometimes the movies, sometimes the TV series — before every start. 

The six-foot-six 255-pound right-hander, who signed with the Blue Jays last week, is also focused on his body, putting in three-to-four hours a day of recovery work, activation, alignment and training.

On the mound, he credited former teammate — and former Blue Jays pitcher — Hyun-Jin Ryu with helping him expand his arsenal by not relying on one type of off-speed pitch. 

“Two types of cutters, two types of curveballs, two types of change-ups,” said Ponce, who also throws a splitter and has a mid-90s fastball. “Creating different pitches and just the pitch ability.”

Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease, who recently signed a seven-year, $200-million contract with the Blue Jays, will anchor a Toronto starting rotation that’s one of the deepest in the game. 

Ponce joins a starter mix that includes Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios. Bowden Francis, Eric Lauer and others could also factor in. 

“I want to win baseball games,” Ponce said. “I want to win a World Series. So anything that I can do to be the best help that I can to this team, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The native of Pomona, Calif., said he got a chance to watch some of the Blue Jays’ playoff run last October. Toronto made it to the World Series before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

“The competitive nature of the team, the atmosphere that you can see on the bench during games, everybody was very lighthearted, but everybody was still very dedicated to wanting to win a ball game each and every single night,” he said. 

Ponce was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. 

He made his big-league debut with Pittsburgh in 2020 and had a 1-7 record and 5.86 ERA over parts of two seasons with the Pirates.

Ponce split time in Japan between the Nippon Ham Fighters and Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2022-24. He had a 15-24 mark with a 4.54 ERA over three seasons.

Ponce also endured several months in Japan’s minor leagues before his breakout campaign in South Korea.

“I just wanted to go out there and perform the best I could and try to (create) a possibility of coming back with at least one offer,” he said. “And then this kind of all happened.”

The Blue Jays will kick off their pre-season schedule on Feb. 21 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2025.