Pittsburgh Pirates' Prospect Spotlight: Cody Ponce
When a player gets traded from your team the person that usually catches a lot of the heat for the perceived results is the player that you get coming back. We often jump to blame this guy, call him a bum or say that he was not worth the trade; like it’s his fault or that he asked to be traded. We know that this is almost always not the case, but it is the conclusion that we come to anyway; especially when it is an unknown prospect coming to you team for a known player. In this specific scenario the player that The Pittsburgh Pirates got in their trade of Jordan Lyles to the Milwaukee Brewers was 25-year old, AA pitcher Cody Ponce. The hill to climb was already high enough for Ponce, but of course it turned into a mountain after Lyles went on to have a 7-1 record, a 2.45 ERA, a 1.108 WHIP and 56 Strike Outs in his final 11 appearances for the Brew Crew in 2019. And it may be a mountain that Cody Ponce may never be able to fully climb, but let’s not throw in the towel/call him a bum/blame the trade on him just yet.
Now that we all know how Cody Ponce got here, at least the last part of his journey, I would like to take a look back on where he has been. The Milwaukee Brewers chose Cody Ponce, a 6’5 240 pound junior righty starter out of California Polytechnic State University, in the 2nd Round (55th Player Overall) of the 2015 MLB June Amateur Draft. During his Junior season at Cal Poly Ponoma, Ponce posted a 5-3 record, a 1.44 ERA, a 1.091 WHIP and 67 Ks in 62.1 Innings. Based on this impressive resume, as well as stint in the Cape Cod League in 2014, Ponce earned a $1,108,000 bonus upon signing with the Brewers. Once he was drafted he was sent to the Helena Brewers (Milwaukee’s Rookie League Affiliate) of the Pioneer League. He only stayed there for 2 starts and 5 innings of work and was quickly promoted to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee’s Low A Affiliate) of the Midwest League, where remained for the rest of the season.
In his first professional season, Ponce had a 2.29 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP and 40K/9BB. Due to this success he started out the next season in the Florida State League, with the Brevard County Manatees (Milwaukee’s High A Affiliate through 2016). Unfortunately for him, this year did not go as well or as smoothly as the last. He started the season by suffering a right forearm strain and never regained his effectiveness when he finally did get back on the mound around 2 months later. He finished the season with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.400 WHIP and earned another turn in with Milwaukee’s High A Affiliate to start the 2017 season, this time in the Carolina League with the Carolina Mudcats. He performed much better this time around, with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.292 WHIP, eventually earning a promotion to the Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee’s AA Affiliate) in the Southern League. He built upon his strong season with the Mudcats and in 3 games with the Shuckers only allowed 3 Earned Runs in 17.2 Innings.
Prior to the 2018 season Ponce reached his highest spot on the Brewers MiLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects, landing at #17. He also started his year in Biloxi, which had to be kind of a disappointment. He tried to make the best of his situation but struggled off and on for the majority of the year, while remaining with the Shuckers this entire time. He was even transitioned into the bullpen, where they thought he would be more effective. For the season he had a below average 4.36 ERA, a 1.284 WHIP and 88 Ks in 95 innings, but also 11 HBP (Hit by Pitches) and 34 Walks. In 2019 he would once again start the year in AA, in Biloxi and with the Shuckers, but this year was going to be a little different. For starters, after being a starter his entire life he was officially transitioned into the bull pen as a reliever and found success again. Through his first 27 appearances of the season he posted a 3.29 ERA, a 1.174 WHIP and 44 Ks in 38.1 innings. Then came the trade. On July 29, 2019 Cody Ponce was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jordan Lyles.
On August 1st he was assigned to the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh’s AA Affiliate) of the Eastern League and the judgement by Pirates’ fans began. Ponce was in Altoona for all of three appearances and 6 innings. He did have 6 Ks and a .667 WHIP during that time, but it is such a small sample size it is almost forgettable. From there he was promoted to the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh’s AAA Affiliate) of the International League. In 18.2 innings and 4 appearances as a STARTER, something he hadn’t done consistently since the middle of 2018 and hadn’t done exceptionally well at since at least 2017, Ponce had a 5.30 ERA and a 1.339 WHIP, but did manage 20 K’s.
At the end of the season he was assigned to the Peoria Javelina’s of Arizona Fall League, where he once again remained a starter. In 5 starts he put up an impressive 2.35 ERA, a decent 1.261 WHIP and had 27 K’s in 23 innings. Not bad at all for a mostly hitter-friendly league. Immediately following the Fall League Season, Ponce went on to start 3 games for Team USA in the Premier12, including the Bronze Medal Game against Mexico. In these 3 starts he had a 2.03 ERA and 11 Ks in 13 innings, including 6 in 5 innings in the game against Mexico.
The big question concerning Cody Ponce is, where does he go from here? I know he will be at Spring Training as he was added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster on November 20, 2019 to protect him from eligibility in the Rule 5 Draft over the Winter Meetings. But seriously, it is not known if the new regime under Ben Cherington sees Ponce as a starter or a reliever. Cody has a plus Fastball (60/60 grade), a plus Cutter (55/60 grade) and an average Curveball (50/50), with average Command (50/50). If he is seen as a starter, he has possibly 5 to 7 names ahead of him on the current rotation depth chart, but he could move his way up if he performs like he did in the Arizona Fall League or fall further down if struggles a little bit like he did when he first came to Indianapolis Indians. If he is seen as a reliever, he could fit in almost anywhere, except the “closer” position due to his versatility of pitches and could even start the year with the big league club in Pittsburgh. There is a lot of uncertainty with Cody Ponce this upcoming year, but remember one thing; he is not a bum/he is not to blame for being here/he didn’t ask to be traded and the rest of his story has yet to be written.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @BucsBasement