The Toronto Blue Jays made a few moves on the free agent front this winter, most notably on the pitching front.

One of those key signings was right-hander Cody Ponce, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with Toronto this winter after spending a few years overseas, split between Japan and Korea.

Last year, Ponce posted a 1.89 ERA and a 0.935 WHIP across 180 2/3 innings with the Hanwha Eagles, earning the Choi Dong-won Award as the top starting pitcher in the league as well as being named the league MVP. While Ponce found success in Korea, he decided to head back to the Major Leagues on a high note, securing one of the largest paydays in history for a player coming from the KBO.

“I think the biggest part right now is my family gets to be with me,” said Ponce, speaking with Lindsay Dunn on the Off the Roster podcast. “We didn’t have to travel across the world to go to spring training, which has been pretty nice. I do miss being in Australia with my boys from the Hanwha Eagles. I do miss being in Okinawa, Japan with with my Japanese guys, but very grateful to be here and create new friendships and new bonds with the players, the coaching staff, medical staff, everybody, all around, and just having a lot of fun.”

Ponce is no stranger to the big leagues. Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft, Ponce spent parts of two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021, pitching to a 5.86 ERA through 20 games (five starts).

It was in 2022 that Ponce made the jump to Japan, where he spent two seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and one campaign with the Rakuten Eagles before jumping to Korea in 2025.

Ponce, who is known for his Star Wars fandom, switched his journey number to align with his interests off the field and to pay tribute to a former Blue Jays starter. This season, Ponce will be wearing #66.

“So, two reasons,” said Ponce. “One, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and my leg will show that, but I couldn’t take 30 from Kirk.

“So my number from last year was CP30, 66 for the order, but it’s also just like an honour and tribute to (Hyun Jin) Ryu. So it’s an upside-down 99. I was honestly a little afraid to wear 99 if that was an option, because it’s such a big number in Korea, and I have so much respect for him. So, yeah, just those little two, two pieces of honour.”

All Toronto Blue Jays odds are brought to you by MLB betting site Betway!