Star Wars, Former Blue Jays Pitcher Factor in Cody Ponce Jersey Number Change

Cody Ponce's deep admiration for this movie series is part of the reason he's changed numbers after joining the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pirates starting pitcher Cody Ponce (44) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning at PNC Park | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

A jersey number never means nearly as much to someone viewing it as it does to the player who is wearing it. Every single time a number is picked, there is some sort of symbolic reasoning behind it, whether that reasoning is big or small. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Cody Ponce is no exception.

Ponce's time wearing double four's didn't go well when he was in Pittsburgh, so he ended up swapping for No. 30 for a specific reason. He loves Star Wars and C3P0. After how well he excelled in the KBO wearing No. 30, the Toronto Blue Jays picked him up for a three-year deal, and now it is time for another change.

It has been a while since Ponce has thrown a ball over in the States, but the Blue Jays added him to the roster this offseason, and he is officially back. This will be the first time he has thrown a pitch in the Majors since the end of the 2021 season. With a new team (and country), it is time for a new number.

In Korea, Cody Ponce wore #30 for C3P0 and his Star Wars love.

This year, he’s wear 66 for Order 66 (also it’s upside down #99 as an ode to Hyun Jin Ryu)#BlueJays

— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) February 17, 2026

Ponce announced that in Toronto, he will rep No. 66 for a pair of reasons. It should come as no shock that one of them is Star Wars-related, as Order 66, which is pivotal in that it turns clone Stormtroopers against the Jedi order in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The other piece to the puzzle is in honor to former Blue Jays pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu, who wore the same number in Toronto and, like Ponce, was a KBO MVP.

Ponce's Time in Professional Baseball

Pirates Cody Ponce poses during media day at Ed Smith Stadium. | USA TODAY NETWORK

The 32-year-old started his career back in 2015 when the Milwaukee Brewers picked him up in the second round of the draft, but it wasn't until he was with the Pirates in August of 2020 that he made his debut.

Ponce's time on the mound with the organization went poorly enough that looking at the stats makes someone grimace, but it isn't how someone starts, but how they finish. Once Ponce went overseas, he was exceptional, and that is why he is now in Toronto.

Cody Ponce grew up a fan of Hyun Jin Ryu and played with him with the Hanwha Eagles.

He wore Ryu’s Blue Jays jersey at the KBO All-Star Game 😂 pic.twitter.com/vqAdrdh49e

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) December 11, 2025

He's been in Asia since 2022, and in 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

He 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.

The Blue Jays are locked and loaded this year with talent and apparently personality. Ponce appears to be a really nice fit inside the club house the more and more he speaks, the more it will make all the difference down the stretch.