Blue Jays manager John Schneider provided an update on right-hander Cody Ponce, who departed yesterday’s game with an injury. Ponce has a sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He has avoided a full tear and it’s still to be determined whether surgery will be necessary. Even if he does avoid surgery, he will miss “significant time” regardless, though the Jays are holding out hope he can pitch later in the year. Hazel Mae of Sportsnet and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic were among those to relay the information.
Time will tell exactly how it plays out as the Jays are still gathering medical opinions but it seems like Ponce is likely to miss a few months even in a best-case scenario. It’s a brutal blow for Ponce and the team. Ponce had spent the past few years overseas. He had an excellent 2025 season in Korea, giving the Hanwha Eagles 180 2/3 innings with a 1.89 ERA.
He parlayed that into a three-year, $30MM deal with the Blue Jays but that deal has begun in one of the most agonizing ways possible. Ponce was making his team debut last night when he tried to field a grounder in the third inning. He fell to the ground in obvious pain and was later carted off the field. The team initially announced his injury as right knee discomfort. It now appears he will miss the majority of the 2026 campaign, meaning his triumphant return to the majors will have to wait.
For the Jays, this adds another layer to the challenges they have been facing with their rotation depth. Each of Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and José Berríos began the season on the injured list. The Jays were able to start the season in decent shape even without those guys, having a five-man group consisting of Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Eric Lauer, Ponce and Max Scherzer.
Now that Ponce is out, the Jays will have an opening, at least for the short term. Yesavage, Bieber and Berríos are all throwing and could potentially be back in the mix in the near future. Yesavage seems to perhaps be the closest, as he is expected to throw 45 innings over three innings in a simulated game this week.
Until one of those three is ready to return, the Jays will need a fifth starter. Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, the Jays don’t plan to use their off-days to run a four-man rotation, so they’ll need someone to take Ponce’s spot on Sunday. Ricky Tiedemann won’t be an option since he is also injured at the moment. The same goes for Bowden Francis, who will miss all of 2026 due to Tommy John surgery. Jake Bloss is recovering from last year’s surgery. Schneider listed Lazaro Estrada, Adam Macko, CJ Van Eyk and Chad Dallas as possibilities to start Sunday’s game.
Estrada seems likely to be recalled today, as Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported last night. Multiple reporters, including Bannon, noted today that Estrada has a locker in the clubhouse. Ponce hasn’t been officially placed on the IL but it seems like Estrada will be recalled when that does happen. Whether Estrada is available to pitch on Sunday perhaps depends on if he is needed to log any innings between now and then. He made two appearances for the Jays last year, allowing seven earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. He also posted a 5.73 ERA in Triple-A last year.
Macko is another option already on the 40-man, although he hasn’t yet made his major league debut. He had a 5.06 ERA at Triple-A last year, pitching in a swing role. He pitched two innings of relief for Buffalo on Friday.
Van Eyk and Dallas are not on the 40-man roster, though that shouldn’t be an issue. The Jays already have two vacancies with Leo Jiménez and Angel Bastardo getting designated for assignment last week. They effectively have two more open spots since Anthony Santander and now Ponce are candidates to be moved to the 60-day injured list. Van Eyk had a 4.79 ERA in 126 Triple-A innings last year. Dallas had a strong 2023 on the farm, posting a 3.65 ERA. However, his ERA spiked to 6.21 in 2024 in a season that was cut short by injury, ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery. He just pitched three innings on Sunday, his first official game action since July of 2024.
The Jays will hope that whoever takes the spot in the coming days will be bumped out after a few turns, making it a short-term issue. The Ponce injury could also impact them in the long term. Each of Gausman, Bieber, Scherzer and Lauer are slated for free agency after this season. Berríos can opt out of his deal, though that seems unlikely at the moment. That means the 2027 rotation currently projects to include Cease, Yesavage, Ponce and Berríos, with some of the aforementioned young guys potentially stepping up.
In a perfect world, Ponce would have had a strong 2026 and established himself as a legit MLB arm going into 2027. If he ends up missing most or all of the remainder of the schedule, he will still be a question mark going into next season.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
Well that was fast.
Could have been worse.
Yes, his arm could have fell off.
Or his arm coulda fall off.
This time his knee fell off.
Silly boy, your knee can’t fall off. It’s the leg or nothing.
And just like that, the “Toronto has too many SP” discussion rode off into the sunset.
Good thing they picked up mad max
Had to chuckle. Max was fried two years ago.
Well, no big loss in the end. If anything, this should ensure that Lauer will stay in the rotation which is the biggest win of all. That man deserves to start.
Still three more arms coming back over the next couple of weeks, barring any setbacks. I still don’t think his rotation spot is guarenteed, whether we like it or not.
Big loss. He looked good in spring and i was really liking the Star Wars music that was going on during the at bats. Lauer back in the pen solves so many issues that this teams bullpen has right now and that’s lack of inning eaters
Ponce looks like a big clumsy oaf just like Alek Manoah. Highly doubt that body holds up. And definitionally speaking, it’s not a big loss when he barely contributed anything before his injury and he’s not projected to be anything other than a backend starter.
Says the fat guy who needs two bar stools to sit down to soak in the suds. “Norm!”
@eve_protocol “clown comment of the day “
I think he/she just wanted a chance to say “definitionally speaking.”
Pretty big loss.
I’m glad it wasn’t worse, all the best on your rehab, look forward to seeing you back on the mound soon.
Thanks!
That sucks. I was excited to see what he could do this year. I guess all we can do is hope it’s not a season ending injury already.
Very Marcus Stroman coded.
Uh oh. This sucks.
Yesavage is ramping back up. Probably be back in late April. Bieber and Berrios seem further behind.
Does Giolito get a phone call today?
The Jays have enough starting pitching depth, so this probably won’t hurt as much. However, they need to revamp most of the bullpen before the trade deadline.
lol, no
Aaron Rodgers
Good luck to Ponce!
Ponce, we hardly knew ya.
Who do the Jays think they are, Atlanta?
Giolito must be getting antsy now that the season has started. Toronto definitely isn’t afraid to move guys into the pen when their best starters come back so maybe they sign him as a starter for now long reliever later type.
Nothing worse than seeing a guy blow himself up during a play he neither had a chance on or should have even tried to involve himself in.
That SP logjam just solved itself!
how is yesavage supposed to pitch 45 innings over 3 innings this week.so much of the jays have to much pitching.