KBO
With the Padres exploring all their options while operating on a budget in free agency, they could turn to a familiar strategy for bringing in another starting-caliber arm.
Last offseason, San Diego signed former KBO Cy Young winner Kyle Hart to a one-year deal.
Hart started six of his 20 appearances to the tune of a 5.86 ERA, 5.18 FIP, and 20.7% strikeout rate in 43 innings. Now, Hart’s season was a far cry from his 2024 in the KBO, where his 2.69 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 22.8% K-BB ratio earned him some hardware, but his return stateside left something to be desired.
However, players have shown that they can make successful jumps from the KBO to MLB. Notable examples include Chan Ho Park, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and even former MLB players like Erick Fedde have shown they can be serviceable to contending teams after time in Korea.
In 2025, there was a player who was utterly dominant in the KBO, and he was also a former MLB arm like Hart & Fedde. Unless you are either a Brewers or Pirates fan (or a complete trade-a-maniac like myself), you may not have heard the name Cody Ponce before.
Ponce was once a former second-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers who was traded to the Pirates for former Padre Jordan Lyles. Lyles went on to have his own Linsanity run with the Brewers (11 starts, 2.45 ERA, 182 ERA+) after the trade, and while this isn’t particularly relevant, it’s a fun nugget nonetheless. Ponce struggled in limited minor league time in 2019, and his MLB debut in 2020 saw him post a 3.18 ERA in five games. His numbers were screaming regression, as he allowed five homers in 17 innings and had a devilish 6.66 FIP.
Credit: NBC7
His 2021 season in the majors saw his numbers regress significantly. In 15 games and 31.2 innings, Ponce posted a 7.04 ERA, a 1.748 WHIP, and an FIP nearing five at 4.94. That became his last taste of MLB, as after the season, he signed with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in NPB, for whom he was a dependable arm for two seasons. He signed on with the Rakuten Golden Eagles for 2024, but proceeded to post a 6.72 ERA with Rakuten’s Pacific League affiliate. He was sent down to the Eastern League (NPB’s minor leagues), where he posted 60 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 9.8 K/9.
Ponce decided to jump to the KBO in 2025, signing with the Hanwha Eagles on a one-year deal.
The leap paid off in spades, frankly. What’s the best way to put this? He balled out.
In his debut season in the KBO, Cody Ponce posted a 17-1 record, 1.79 ERA, 2.15 FIP, and struck out 252 batters in 180.2 innings. Ponce was named to the KBO’s Nanum All-Stars, even starting the All-Star Game. Ponce’s season saw him break KBO pitching records as well; on May 17, he struck out 18 batters in one game to break Hyun-jin Ryu’s 15-year-old record of 17. Ponce’s 252 strikeouts to end the season were a new KBO record as well, breaking Ariel Miranda’s record of 225. Ponce was so dominant that he broke the record for strikeouts in a season on September 3 (the KBO regular season ended September 30). His regular-season success earned him the Triple Crown for his efforts.
Last night, Cody Ponce became the first pitcher in KBO history to strike out 250 batters in a single season
He also became the first foreign pitcher (27th overall) to put up a sub-2 ERA in Korea
He finishes the year with 8.4 WAR, the 2nd-most in Hanwha Eagles franchise history pic.twitter.com/BP2Q59renV
— Gaijin Baseball/外国人野球 (@GaijinBaseball) October 2, 2025
With such a season in the books, Ponce is a logical candidate to make the jump back to MLB.
With the Padres currently having Nick Pivetta as the only sure-fire option in their rotation for 2026, the staff could be an area of need. With question marks surrounding Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove’s health for 2026, the team could look to add a sort of sixth starter with upside, and Ponce fits this bill to a tee.
Cody Ponce brings a five-pitch mix that has allowed him to be successful in the KBO, albeit with some question marks. Ponce’s fastball sits in the 94-97 mph range, touching 98 mph at times. Coming out of a 45-degree arm angle, his heater possesses 15.4 inches of induced vertical break and 8.3 inches of horizontal break, allowing him to miss barrels.
His most used secondary is his cutter, at 89.2 mph. The cutter averaged 13.2 inches of horizontal movement in 2025, tunneling well off his four-seamer. Ponce’s two primary breaking balls include his slider and curveball, which combined for 31% of his pitch usage. The slider is one that he manipulates well to have more sweep or 12-6 movement when he needs it, averaging 10.7 inches of vertical drop in the 2025 season. His curveball is somewhat inconsistent according to scouts, who rate it as below-average, but with proper development, it could become an average offering.
His final pitch is a changeup at 86.2 mph. The changeup has seen improvements since his time in MLB, though scouts and evaluators debate whether it has plus value or lacks depth. His arm speed on the pitch is solid, allowing the pitch to flash some of its fading depth, though it is inconsistent at times. Ponce averages 7.2 feet of extension coming off the mound, which would put him in the 96th percentile of MLB arms, among the likes of Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez.
While San Diego is a team that has been going against the trend of high-extension, low-VAA arms, Ponce presents an interesting set of skills he would bring to the table.
Cody Ponce was literally in tears after tying #KBO record for most Ks in a game. Former big leaguer said after the game that he thought of his mother who passed away in ‘17. #HanwhaEagles starter finished the game w/ 18 Ks. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ljHhnmg4jD
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) May 17, 2025
When evaluating Ponce’s arsenal and numbers, his pure stuff is somewhat more raw than that of Erick Fedde and Kyle Hart, the last two KBO aces to make the jump to MLB. Ponce’s arsenal and velocity are more likely to lead to success in MLB. Both of these statements can be correct. Ponce’s arsenal at face value is very similar to that of Randy Vasquez, headlined by the fastball and cutter pairing. Ponce’s 7.2 feet of extension do allow his 94-97 mph fastball to play up slightly, which could be key to success in MLB with an arsenal like his. Ponce is a prime candidate to work with the Padres’ pitching R&D department to improve his breaking pitches, as they have done with Vasquez and Kyle Hart.
Cody Ponce’s free agent asking price also remains up in the air.
He signed a one-year, $1 million deal after a down year in Japan, but his Triple Crown-winning season will likely earn him a sizable pay raise. Ponce’s season also puts him in the running for the KBO MVP award, which could become a factor in his free agent market. This offseason’s free agent market for starting pitching is also oversaturated with middle-to-back-end starting pitchers, which could diminish or inflate possible salaries for starters.
For contract precedents, the contracts given to the last two KBO MVP pitchers who made the jump to MLB serve as realistic examples: those of Erick Fedde and Josh Lindblom. Fedde was paid $15 million over a two-year term upon his return to MLB. While his results during the contract were a mixed bag, the value of the deal fell in line with that of other back-end veteran starters.
Lindblom, for those who may not remember the name, was a former Dodgers draftee back in 2008 who spent parts of five seasons in MLB, posting a 4.10 ERA and 4.27 FIP in 147 innings. After two seasons in the KBO, he signed with the Brewers before 2020 on a three-year, $9.125 million contract. This deal, with an AAV just north of $3 million, could be something along the lower end of what Ponce could receive from an MLB team, with Fedde’s deal being on the high end. Something along the lines of a one-year, $5 million deal with a club option could be a good median value for a player like Ponce to receive on the open market. A contract like Nick Martinez’s first Padres deal remains in the realm of possibility, but with the pitching market always being on some kind of twister, time will tell.
Having dealt away most of their near-MLB-ready pitching prospects in the quest for a World Series, the Padres are primed to look for depth on the free agent market. The likely KBO Cy Young winner for the 2025 campaign is likely to make the jump back to MLB this season. San Diego and Cody Ponce match up well on the free agent market to make a deal happen.
A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.
A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.
Continue Reading