Newly Acquired Pitcher Could Be Blue Jays Breakout Star in 2026

The Toronto Blue Jays have an intriguing roster, but a newcomer could be the key to raising the team's ceiling in 2026.

Mar 6, 2021; Dunedin, Florida, USA; A detailed view of the Toronto Blue Jays logo on a building at TD Ballpark during the spring training game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off a rousing season that saw them fall just short in the World Series at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With most of the team under club control and slated to return in 2026, the focus for the front office is doing what it can to add the necessary pieces to put the Blue Jays in position to return to the Fall Classic and come away victorious this time around.

Adding Dylan Cease to headline the starting rotation was the exact sort of move that will give Toronto the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with a superpower like the Dodgers again, but depth on the mound will play a role as well, which is where reigning KBO MVP Cody Ponce will come in.

Cody Ponce Breakout Would Raise Blue Jays' Ceiling Considerably

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MLB.com's group of team beat writers teamed up to share their predictions for their respective team's best candidate to be a breakout star in 2026, and Blue Jays beat writer Keegan Matheson landed on the 31-year-old right-handed pitcher Ponce, who Toronto signed earlier this month out of the KBO.

"This feels like an off-the-board pick, given that Ponce just signed a three-year, $30 million deal, but he’s a fascinating story, coming back to MLB after four years pitching in Japan and Korea," Matheson wrote. "Last season, Ponce won the KBO’s MVP Award and absolutely dominated opposing hitters with 252 strikeouts over 180 2/3 innings. Last time we saw him in the big leagues, though, he was a fringe reliever with the Pirates who couldn’t stick. Ponce’s velocity has ticked up and he seems to have unlocked something. So, at age 31, we could witness the late breakout Ponce has been working toward."

Ponce would not be the first pitcher to come back from a stint in Korea or Japan and look better than in previous MLB showings. In his MLB career, he's made 20 appearances in which he put up a 5.86 ERA while striking out 48 hitters in 55.1 innings of work.

That resume would clearly not be enough to earn the type of contract that the Blue Jays gave him to return to MLB, so it's clear that the team puts a good amount of stock in his phenomenal KBO performance and is not making this bet without having thought it through.

If Ponce can land as a high-level No. 4 starter, this move would be an absolute win for the Jays, who have Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios and Trey Yesavage in the fold, but those other options come with enough question marks to put Ponce in position to move up the team's depth chart if he did in fact unlock something in Korea.

His fastball averaged 93.2 miles per hour in 2021, but his 96th percentile extension means that if he has unlocked increased velocity into the 95 range, that will play even faster, which could give him legitimate MLB strikeout upside.

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