Yet Another Reason To Love Baseball
I don't think I really had a choice with baseball. As far back as I can remember, there was always a game on. Phil Rizzuto and Frank White were nightly voices in our house. Don Mattingly starred on TV every summer night. I remember waiting for Dad to get home from work so that we could have a catch. Even Mom got in the action and would catch me when Dad was stuck working a double shift. I grew up playing, watching, and talking baseball and loving every second of it.
When the playing days ended, the love for the game manifested itself into coaching high school teams, becoming obsessed with fantasy baseball, and writing about the game, the players, and anything associated with it.
As I've entered my 50's, I no longer live and die with each Yankees' result. Don't get me wrong; I was not happy about game five of the 2024 World Series. But, that was short-lived too. Instead, I find myself drawn more to the stories of the people who play and who are involved in the game. I love the behind the scenes stuff, how much work a player puts in to get to the next level, the story of a trade, or how a journeyman came up big in a pressure situation .
So, it was no surprise to me that once I read that the Toronto Blue Jays signed pitcher Cody Ponce to a three year, $30 million deal, I was immediately drawn in.
I'll be honest; I had no idea who Cody Ponce was just a couple of weeks ago. Now, I am in search of every story about a 31-year-old right handed pitcher with little Major League success on his resume and who hasn't thrown a pitch from a MLB mound since 2021. How does he get a guaranteed contract from the defending American League Champions, especially since they already signed the top free agent starting pitcher on the market, Dylan Cease, for $210 million?
In the baseball world, $10 million per season is the proverbial drop in the bucket. The Blue Jays aren't investing, relatively speaking, a large sum of money that it will hurt them if Ponce doesn't work out. They are, however, paying him for his age 32, 33, and 34 seasons no matter what. Evidently, the Blue Jays see enough to make that commitment.
The commitment is the fascinating part. What led a successful–and improving even more–organization to identify him and commit to him?
Ponce was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of 2015 draft. As he climbed the Brewers' farm system, Ponce put up some solid, yet unspectacular results. Once he advanced to double-A and triple-A, those numbers became even less spectacular. But, there was enough of a strikeout rate and some underlying statistics for another team to believe in him. At the 2019 trade deadline, the Brewers traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for veteran journeyman, Jordan Lyles.
The Pirates called him up in August 2020 where he made two relief appearances before receiving his first start against the Cardinals. He got his first and, to date, only Major League win that day, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings while allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 2. Ponce would receive two September starts, but wouldn't go past the fourth inning in either outing. He would spend parts of the 2021 season in the majors, but find little success, going 0-6 with 7.04 ERA (5.39 FIP) in 15 appearances, including two starts. He was released in November.
Ponce caught on in Japan, pitching there from 2022 through the 2024 season. And, the statistics were still not spectacular. In three seasons, he made 39 appearances that spanned 202 innings during he allowed 220 hits, 19 home runs, 56 walks, and 156 strikeouts. That came with a 4.54 ERA.
Serviceable, but nowhere near Major League Baseball standards.
2025 brought Ponce to Korea, a solid professional league, but somewhat of a step down from Japan and certainly a few steps down from MLB.
But, something switched for Ponce in Korea. He dominated the league in 29 starts. In those starts, he pitched 180.2 innings, allowed just 128 hits, and 41 walks, while striking out a league leading 252 batters. That came with a minuscule 1.89 ERA and 2.15 FIP. For a league known for offense and inflated ERA's, this is a dominating season by any standard.
The difference appears to be an uptick in velocity and a new split-finger fastball that took Ponce from that decent swing and miss stuff to an otherworldly swing and miss rate in Korea.
With the new velocity hitting 96 to 99 MPH and the splitter, Ponce is not only back in the Majors, he has a rotation spot for the defending American League champions. Can one successful season is a lower tier league translate to sustained success?
The Blue Jays are betting on a comeback story that took awhile to be written. This will be Ponce's 10th season in professional baseball. Outside of last year, there is really no reason to believe that this will end well.
But, what if it does? What if that one season, the two adjustments, and being five years wiser all make up that magical formula that allows Cody Ponce to live out his dream as a successful Major League pitcher? A guy gets close to his dream then goes to not one, but two foreign countries to find himself and prepare himself for a second chance.
Second chances don't come around often in life; they are even more rare in sports. For the 2026 season, we get to see someone try to make good on that chance. And, that is larger than the game itself.
Like I said earlier, I didn't know who Cody Ponce was a couple of weeks ago. Now, he is someone I will follow. We all may not get second chances, but he has one. And, that is worth watching.
That feeling brings me back to the days of watching Mattingly. His results meant something to me as a kid. Ponce's redemption resonates with me as a 50-year-old. I'll be rooting for him.
It really is hard not to get romantic about baseball.