How a former Blue Jays all-star and an NFL all-pro sparked Cody Ponce's career turnaround

A year ago, Cody Ponce had a decision to make, one that couldn’t have been in sharper contrast to the one he made earlier this month in gleefully accepting a three-year, $30-million US deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

No, at the time, the 31-year-old and his wife were deliberating on whether to move from Japan to Korea or return to North America and play in independent ball, hoping to desperately breathe life into the ultimate goal of returning to baseball’s big leagues.

It turns out the Ponces made the right career and life-altering choice.

After opting to remain in Asia, what followed was a remarkable story as Ponce landed with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO and was an absolute monster, earning league MVP honours after dominating hitters in the Korean pro league.

Of the many positive influences there — and one that no doubt helped steer Ponce to Toronto, given his history here — was his teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu, better known in these parts as a former Jays starter.

“He was just like a big brother to me,” Ponce said of the former Jays all-star who pitched her from 2020-23. “He treated me like a little brother, which is fine when you have a guy who has 10 years in the big leagues and then you have a guy like me, who has been up and down.

“He treated me with honour and respect that I’ll never forget.”

That respect included working with him on tactics and encouraging Ponce that he had the stuff that could carry back across the ocean and get hitters out in North America.

“(Ryu) allowed me to kind of understand that you don’t always have to throw your 0-2 curve ball in an 0-2 count,” Ponce said on an introductory video conference with Toronto media. “The versatility of pitches allowed me to broaden my spectrum.”

That influence was just part of the reason Ponce was able to go from a failed MLB player (with the Pittsburgh Pirates) to a highly sought-after free agent in just one, transcendent season.

The year in Korea was an impressive one, though, as Ponce used 252 strikeouts to help pitch to a minuscule 1.89 ERA.

How football mentality helped

There was more than a baseball influence in freshening Ponce’s approach. Besides Ryu, the California native credits a family member — who also happens to be a star NFL tight end — with his transformation.

His wife Emma’s brother, George Kittle, was influential in that regard, encouraging Ponce to bring joy back to his craft.

Besides being a successful player, Kittle is known for playing with great animation with the San Francisco 49ers.

“He helped me bring out my inner child again,” Ponce said. “That was something I felt was lacking for the two years prior while I was in Japan.

“I saw the way he was playing the game of football and how you can play such an angry game and be having fun at the same time. The way he talks about when he’s on the field and how he jokes with people … and still have his type of tenacity, type of drive, type of competitiveness and do it at the same time.”

Then there was the move to have more of a football player’s physique. Ponce decided to bulk up, figuring adding weight would add power.

That it did as the 6-foot-6 right hander added 30 pounds to tip the scales at 255, helping add considerable velocity to his fastball that now sits in the 95-96 mph range.

“I think it was just (changing) my body and not trying to be a skinny boy, as my wife likes to say,” Ponce said. “She made sure I ate a lot more food. I’m a bigger boy now.”

What attracted him to Jays?

The money certainly was a lure, especially for a dude whose major league career was as good as buried — or certainly seemed so — and was a huge win.

But like so many around the sport, Ponce is well aware of what’s going on around the Jays and sees the attraction in that regard.

“I want to win baseball games,” said Ponce, who did that rather well in 2025, amassing a 17-1 record with the Eagles. “I want to win a World Series. So anything that I can do to be the best help that I can to this team, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Did the dream ever die?

Ponce acknowledged that “there were times where I was like, ‘maybe I should just go be a professional golfer because I can hit a golf ball pretty far,’” but he wasn’t ready to pack it in.

After parts of two seasons with the Pirates, in which he went 1-7 with a bloated 5.86 ERA, the right hander headed to Asia.

“I don’t think I ever was like ‘this is my last opportunity,'” Ponce said. “I never wanted to give up the dream of coming back to play Major League Baseball.

“I don’t think that as a competitive ball player you ever take away the opportunity of playing in the big leagues. It’s the premiere of the premiere, the No. 1 league in the world. I still wanted to be there and play against the best.”

He took those aspirations and his revamped mindset into that life-changing season in Korea.

“I just wanted to go out there and again perform the best I could and try to put a possibility of coming back with at least one offer,” Ponce said. “And then this kind of all happened.”