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Cody Ponce carted off field with scary injury in Blue Jays debut
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- Cody Ponce carted off field with scary injury in Blue Jays debut
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The Toronto Blue Jays signed Cody Ponce this offseason with the hope that he would provide important depth in the starting rotation. Ponce, a former MVP in the Korean Baseball Organization, made his team debut on Monday. Unfortunately, the debut ended early with a very scary-looking injury.
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Ponce was pitching with a runner on third in the third inning of a scoreless ball game against the Colorado Rockies . Colorado outfielder Jake McCarthy tapped a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Ponce attempted to field the ball , but appeared to injure himself in the process. He was eventually carted off the field.
No specific injury diagnosis has been released at this time. However, the Blue Jays released a brief update saying Ponce was removed with "right knee discomfort."
The Blue Jays added a fair amount of pitching depth during the offseason. They signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year contract to help anchor the top of their rotation. Toronto saw Ponce as a mid-rotation piece who could provide valuable innings.
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The 31-year-old hurler spent two years in MLB with the Pittsburgh Pirates before heading overseas. He showed promise in 2020 with a 3.18 ERA, but struggled in 2021 as he was lit up for an ERA north of 7.00.
Ponce had a stop in Japan, pitching for NPB's Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. However, it was his stint with the KBO's Hanwha Eagles that brought him back on MLB's radar. Ponce went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts, setting the single-game and single-season strikeout records in Korea en route to winning the KBO MVP.
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