The Toronto Blue Jays continue to strengthen their roster by signing KBO MVP pitcher Ponce to a three-year contract.

Following the signing of Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract, the Toronto Blue Jays have kept up their momentum in strengthening the squad. According to official team reporter Mark Feinsand, the Blue Jays have reached a three-year agreement with experienced right-hander Cody Ponce, with the deal reportedly worth around $30 million, though the team has yet to officially confirm the transaction.

After spending four seasons playing overseas, 31-year-old Ponce (turning 32 next April) is set to return to the major leagues with a completely transformed pitching profile. This transformation mainly took place in 2025. Between 2022 and 2024, Ponce pitched in Japan’s NPB for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles with modest results. However, in the 2025 season in Korea’s KBO, he exploded while playing for the Hanwha Eagles: starting 29 games with an outstanding 17-1 record, leading the league with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts, demonstrating dominance over 180.2 innings pitched.

His 252 strikeouts set a new single-season KBO record, and on May 17th, he struck out 18 batters in a single game, breaking the league’s single-game strikeout record. For his performance, Ponce was named the KBO League Most Valuable Player and received the Choi Dong-won Award, given to the league’s best starting pitcher.

Pitching analyst Lance Brozdowski noted that Ponce’s four-seam fastball in the KBO averaged 95.5 mph and could reach the upper 90s. He also possesses a highly effective changeup (specifically a “kicking changeup”) that generates a 46% whiff rate, with a 39% whiff rate within the strike zone. Additionally, his arsenal includes a cutter (also called a high-velocity slider) and an occasional sinker.

Compared to his first major league stint (when his fastball averaged 93.2 mph and he rarely used his changeup), these improvements in pitch quality will greatly enhance his ability to dominate MLB hitters. Previously, lacking an effective changeup as a key weapon, left-handed batters hit him hard, slugging .703 with 9 home runs in 101 MLB plate appearances against him.

Standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 255 pounds, Ponce has the build of a power pitcher. Originally from Pomona, California, he began his professional career with the Milwaukee Brewers (selected in the second round of the 2015 draft) before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2019 trade deadline. He made his MLB debut early in the shortened 2020 season and appeared in 20 games (including 5 starts) over the next two seasons for the Pirates, compiling a 1-7 record with a 5.86 ERA and allowing 13 home runs in 55.1 innings. After being released by Pittsburgh following the 2021 season, he moved to play in Japan’s NPB.

Ponce is the latest pitcher attempting to leverage strong KBO performances to successfully return to the major leagues. Recent successful examples include Erick Fedde, who after a dominant 2023 KBO season signed with the Chicago White Sox; and Merrill Kelly, who returned to MLB with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2018 after four years in the KBO and is now entering his eighth major league season.