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By Ernesto Cova
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For the first time in five years, Cody Ponce took the mound for an MLB game. Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived, as he had to be carted off the field after just 47 pitches and 2.1 innings.
Ponce lunged after a ground ball from Colorado Rockies OF Jake McCarthy in the third inning. He was clearly in discomfort, and the replay showed his knee moving in the wrong direction. Ultimately, skipper John Schneider had an easy decision to make and got himself off the field right away.
Now, USA Today insider Bob Nightengale confirmed that he suffered an ACL sprain, and it'll be a while before he takes the mound again:
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"Blue Jays starter Cody Ponce suffers a right ACL sprain and will miss significant time, Blue Jays manager John Schneider tells Toronto reporters," Nightengale shared on his X account.
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It was a major gut punch for Ponce, who finally returned to the big leagues after spending the past year in South Korea and the three previous campaigns in Japan.
The Blue Jays signed him to a three-year, $30 million contract and hoped he'd be an integral part of their rotation as they strive to return to the World Series. And even though this ailment isn't going to be season-ending, knee ailments tend to linger, and the team will likely err on the side of caution with him.
Ponce tossed 30 strikes in his debut, striking out three and giving up one run and one walk. As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn't stop limping and couldn't stand on his own power.
It was an emotional moment for the reigning AL champions, who ultimately dropped the game 15-4 to the visiting Rockies. Now, Max Scherzer will take the mound for the second game of the series, looking to even things up against Ryan Feltner.
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