Inside The Blue Jays

Cody Ponce Shares Mindset Ahead of First Full Season With Blue Jays

The Blue Jays could have really won this deal with Cody Ponce.
Maddy Dickens|
Mar 1, 2021; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates Cody Ponce poses during media day at Ed Smith Stadium.
Mar 1, 2021; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates Cody Ponce poses during media day at Ed Smith Stadium. | USA TODAY NETWORK

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Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays have been anything but passive this offseason, making big strides to improve their 2026 roster, specifically their pitching staff. It started with the re-signing of Shane Bieber, followed by the massive deal with strikeout machine Dylan Cease, but management didn't stop there.

The ballclub looked overseas into the Korean Baseball Organization to pick up a low-risk, very high-reward pitcher as Cody Ponce broke all kinds of records in 2025. Now he is ready to return to the majors, and it is clear his mindset is exactly what the Jays are looking for.

"I want to win baseball games. I want to win a World Series. Anything that I can do to be the best help to this team...That's what I'm going to do," said Ponce.

Toronto needs everyone inside the clubhouse to have this in their heads. The goal is to win the World Series, and anything else is going to be simply unacceptable to everyone.

Ponce’s Path to Toronto

Cody Ponce throwing a pitch for the Pirates as a starte
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

This won't be Ponce's first time stepping onto a major league mound, but it will be his debut since leaving the Pirates after the 2021 season, and to say his time in the majors didn't go well would be quite the understatement.

Ponce was used in only 20 games over his two years in Pittsburgh (primarily out of the bullpen), posting a 5.86 ERA and allowing opponents to hit over .300 against him. So, why would the Jays sign him to a three-year $30M contract?

His last season in the KBO with the Hanwha Eagles he was not only named the MVP, but set a record for most strikeouts in a game, 18, and eventually finished the year with 252 in less than 181 innings.

His stat-line for 2025 included:

  • 17-1 Record
  • 1.89 ERA
  • 252 Strikeouts
  • 0.93 WHIP

Ponce led the league in wins, won the pitching triple crown, and claimed the Choi Dong-won Award, the KBO’s equivalent of the Cy Young for starting pitchers. This is his second consecutive season with an ERA under 2.25, as he appears to just be getting better and better.

If the 31-year-old looks anything like he has in the last two seasons, then this is a huge win for the starting rotation and the Blue Jays. He's clearly ready to keep the momentum rolling into 2026 and could be a fun one to watch when he gets his chance at redemption.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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