Things aren’t looking good for the Toronto Blue Jays who received bad news to start the MLB season.

MORE: Blue Jays pitcher carted off field after scary injury

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Ponce suffered a right ACL sprain and will miss significant time to recover.

He’ll be going to injured list. No official move yet, but Lazaro Estrada is here in clubhouse.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 31, 2026

The Jays will place Ponce on the injured list and hope he can return to the mound this season.

SportsNet’s Shi Davidi reported that right-hander Lazaro Estrada, who made two appearances for the Blue Jays last season, was in the team’s clubhouse on March 31.

Cody Ponce’s diagnosis right now is a right ACL sprain.

More doctors are reviewing the MRI now to see if there’s a full tear for the final diagnosis.

Schneider says the #BlueJays are “holding onto” hope he can pitch again this year, but will miss significant time regardless.

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 31, 2026

The Blue Jays lured Ponce, 31, back to North America from Korea with a three-year, $30 million contract in December.

Ponce, a native of California, went 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in 20 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2020-21. He spent the 2022-24 seasons in Japan, and 2025 in the KBO. Last year he posted a 1.89 ERA with 252 strikeouts over 180.2 innings for the Hanwha Eagles.

MORE: Blue Jays cut 24-year-old infielder immediately before Opening Day: report

Ponce’s 2026 debut had the potential to be one of the great comeback stories in baseball. For now, his much-anticipated return to the big leagues appears short-lived.

In the third inning, Ponce chased a Jake McCarthy grounder to his left but pulled up lame. He couldn’t walk off the field and was carted away.

After the game, Schneider told reporters that Ponce had “discomfort” in his right knee, knowing the full extent of his injury could be considerably worse.

“I talked to him for a while last night, was up until like one in the morning,” Schneider told reporters, including Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. “He’s got pretty good perspective. And I think he’s frustrated, for sure, but I think he has pretty good perspective on it.”

Schneider on Ponce’s reaction:

“I talked to him for a while last night, was up until like one in the morning. He’s got pretty good perspective. And I think he’s frustrated, for sure, but I think he has pretty good perspective on it.”

— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) March 31, 2026