Cody Ponce had to be carted off the field on Monday in Toronto, spoiling what was his first Major League Baseball appearance since 2021.
Ponce tried to field a short ground ball off the mound in the third inning of the Blue Jays’ matchup with the Colorado Rockies at Rogers Centre on Monday night. But as Ponce started to field the ball, which was hit by Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy, he suddenly pulled up and started hopping, clearly in a lot of pain.
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Ponce’s right leg buckled awkwardly as he was trying to pick up the ball, and he eventually fell down deep in the infield dirt as McCarthy made it to first safely. Kyle Karros scored for the Rockies during the sequence, too, putting them up 1-0 at the time.
Ponce remained down for quite some time while the team’s medical staff tended to him. He was eventually carted off, and did not return.
Specifics of his injury are not yet known. The Blue Jays said that he was removed from the game with “right knee discomfort.”
Ponce returned to MLB this season after spending the past three campaigns in Asia. He posted a 1.89 ERA with 252 strikeouts last season with the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea, which led to him receiving a three-year, $30 million deal with the Blue Jays. Ponce posted a Triple Crown, won KBO MVP honors and led Hanwha to the Korean Series.
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Monday marked his first start of the season, and his first MLB appearance since the 2021 campaign when he was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Blue Jays entered Monday night with a 3-0 record after they swept the Athletics in their first series of the season over the weekend.
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