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Blue Jays: Looking Cody Ponce’s three best games in the KBO
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Photo credit: © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 10, 2026, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 10, 2026, 06:02 EST
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In early December, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Cody Ponce.
Ponce was drafted 55th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2015 draft, but didn’t find much success in the big leagues. His two seasons in Major League Baseball were spent with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021, posting a 5.86 ERA and 5.47 FIP in 55.1 innings pitched.
After those two seasons, Ponce departed to play overseas, playing three seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he didn’t have great stats given the league is in a dead-ball era. Ponce’s final NPB season was in 2024, where he had a 6.72 ERA and 3.13 FIP in 67 innings pitched, with an 18.2 K%, right in line with his career average.
Something changed once he departed for the Korean Baseball Organization in 2025. Signing with the Hanwha Eagles, the team that former Blue Jay Hyun Jin Ryu plays for, Ponce went on to post a league best 1.89 ERA and 2.15 FIP in 180.2 innings pitched, striking out 36.2% of the batter he faced with a 5.9 BB%.
A big reason for this is his fastball ticking up in velocity, as well as adding a nasty kick-changeup as his secondary. The Jays took notice, signing him to a three-year deal worth $30 million. Time will tell how he performs in the big leagues, but let’s take a look at his three (well, four) best starts in the KBO last season

April 15 and 20, 2025

Ponce’s first few starts in the KBO were good, but not great. Throwing 25 innings over his first four starts, Ponce had a 3.60 ERA, giving up at least two runs in all four games, and four runs in his Apr. 9 start.
Well, he hurled a gem on Apr. 15, striking out 12 batters over the score of seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, but giving up three walks. Overall, a terrific start to pick up his third win in the KBO, but his next start was even better.
Ponce pitched another seven innings, the fifth time in six games he pitched at least six innings. He threw three additional pitches, but struck out 13 while allowing just one hit. The difference is that Ponce didn’t walk a batter in this game.
Thanks to these two games, Ponce’s ERA went from 3.60 to 2.31.

May 17, 2025

The one game Ponce is known for in KBO is also the game where he set the record for the most strikeouts. On May 17, 2025, Ponce struck out 18 batters to set a new KBO record in a single game, surpassing Ryu’s record of 17. That’s a pretty nice moment.
Pitcher wins don’t matter all that much anymore, but this was the seventh consecutive game that Ponce started where he also got the win. A no decision in his next game snapped the streak, but Ponce’s ERA after this game sat at 1.48.
After giving up four earned runs in his final start before the back-to-back seven inning starts, Ponce allowed just one run over his six games. Just incredible.

June 22, 2025

So his best start was by far his 18-strikeout game, and he was so dominant over two starts I had to include both, but what’s the final game? There are quite a few candidates. Toward the end of the season, Ponce pitched back-to-back games where he went seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine.
There was another game on Jul. 4 where he struck out 11, but I chose the game on Jun. 22. Of his 29 starts, Ponce threw six or more innings 22 times, 19 of those games were quality starts. However, the Jun. 22 game only saw him pitch five and two-thirds innings. So why is it here?
Well, Ponce struck out 12 over those five and two-thirds innings, allowing two unearned runs, two hits, and a walk. A common trend between the four games is that Ponce struck out 12 or more batters the four times he achieved that feat in 2025. The thing, he was able to strikeout batters while keeping his pitch count around 100 and going deep into most games.
Hopefully, he can do the same in 2026 as he returns to the big leagues.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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