KBO Teammate Knows Why New Blue Jays Starter Cody Ponce Got Huge Deal

Cody Ponce parlayed an incredible season in the KBO into a big deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. His teammate had a front row seat.

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To some in baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays rolled the dice big time on Cody Ponce.

The Blue Jays signed Ponce to a three-year, $30 million deal, a contract that was agreed to shortly after Toronto signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal. Toronto is all-in on bolstering its starting rotation.

Cease has a great MLB track record. Ponce does not. In fact, as an MLB pitcher he was 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in 20 games and five starts before he had to head overseas to make a living. He returns to North America a different pitcher, and a recently signed free agent, Ryan Weiss of the Houston Astros, saw first-hand why the Blue Jays paid that much for Ponce.

Breaking Down Cody Ponce’s Incredible 2025 Season

Last season, Ryan Weiss and Cody Ponce combined for nearly 500 strikeouts pitching for the Hanwha Eagles.

In 2026, they will both be pitching in the majors.#Astros | #BlueJays
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— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) December 11, 2025

Weiss wasn’t just Ponce’s teammate with the Hanwha Eagles. He pitched directly behind Ponce in the rotation. That means he had a front-row seat to Ponce’s MVP season in the KBO, where he set a single-season strikeout record and struck out 18 hitters in one game. Weiss told MLB Network Radio that he took motivation from pitching alongside Ponce, and it boosted his performance.

But there were times, he said, where he just marveled at the season Ponce was having.

“He was playing a video game last year,” Weiss said of Ponce’s season. “He was just clicking and he would do exactly what he wanted to do.”

Ponce was unquestionably the best pitcher in the KBO in 2025. He went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts. With Weiss behind him, the Eagles were nearly impossible to beat when either was on the mound. Ponce was named the KBO MVP. He drew interest from several MLB teams and was considered a Top 50 free agent.

Now, he’ll pitch for the defending AL pennant winners in a rotation that will include Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Beiber, Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios. It’s possible that Ponce could start the season in the bullpen, given the depth and experience in the rotation. There is also concern that Ponce could regress after such an incredible season.

Ponce was the Milwaukee Brewers’ second-round pick in the 2015 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020. As a minor league pitcher, he went 24-24 with a 3.93 ERA in 134 games, with 75 starts. He struck out 429 and walked 128 in 476 innings.