{"id":654465,"date":"2026-03-31T13:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/654465\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T13:38:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:38:30","slug":"blue-jays-make-roster-change-after-cody-ponce-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/654465\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Make Roster Change After Cody Ponce Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a disappointing World Series defeat last year, the Toronto Blue Jays emerged with a clear focus for their roster in the offseason.<\/p>\n

The team added frontline starter Dylan Cease and veteran reliever Tyler Rogers as it reinforced its pitching staff alongside returns from former Cy Young Award winners Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer.<\/p>\n

The emphasis on pitching depth also included the addition of Cody Ponce, who had left major league baseball in 2021 after a rough season with the Pittsburgh Pirates only to reinvent himself as a professional in Asia, winning South Korea\u2019s KBO League Most Valuable Player Award last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, his whole baseball world shot into the stratosphere with unprecedented dominance. The California native finished the year with a 17-1 record, 1.80 ERA and 252 Ks, setting a KBO record by striking out 18 batters in a single game and (was) ultimately named league MVP,\u201d Rose DiManno wrote for the Toronto Star<\/a>. \u201cThe Jays certainly took notice, luring him to Toronto with a three-year, $30-million (U.S.) deal with the assumption he could transfer those kinds of numbers, or thereabouts, back to North America.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE FROM FORBESMets\u2019 10-Year Veteran Responds To Disgruntled Phillies FansBy Peter Chawaga<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 Cody Ponce Endures Brutal Return To MLB<\/p>\n

As a result, even among a pitching staff of exciting talent, Ponce\u2019s debut on Monday was highly anticipated. But it did not go as he or the team would have hoped.<\/p>\n

In his first big-league start since 2021, Ponce left the game in the third inning with a concerning knee injury. He tried to field a ball hit by Colorado Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy, but his right leg buckled and he fell to the infield dirt. He was carted off the field and manager John Schneider indicated that the team was hoping for the best as he underwent further evaluation.<\/p>\n

MORE FROM FORBESBlue Jays\u2019 New $60 Million Star Sends 5-Word Vladimir Guerrero Jr MessageBy Peter Chawaga<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Toronto Blue Jays Add New Pitcher To Big-League Roster After Cody Ponce Injury<\/p>\n

However, a personnel change made by the team shortly after the game suggested they could be anticipating an injury list stint for Ponce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Toronto Blue Jays have recalled right-hander pitcher L\u00e1zaro Estrada from Buffalo, Triple-A,\u201d Major League Baseball insider Francys Romero reported on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter. \u201cHe is expected to join the team (on Tuesday). Estrada, 26, threw 2.2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts on Friday in Triple-A Buffalo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the Blue Jays reloaded their rotation with an apparent surplus of options before the season started, their depth is already being tested. Bieber, Jose Berrios and Trey Yesavage opened the year on the injured list. If Ponce has to miss significant time, the team will need to rely on Estrada for some starts as their more proven pitchers recover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a disappointing World Series defeat last year, the Toronto Blue Jays emerged with a clear focus for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[5,377,2554,54086,52,76,9636,3917,387,29408,381,4,64,1271,282,70,2553,5196,948],"class_list":{"0":"post-654465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-blue-jays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-blue-jays","10":"tag-bluejays","11":"tag-cody-ponce","12":"tag-colorado-rockies","13":"tag-dylan-cease","14":"tag-icon-sportswire","15":"tag-jake-mccarthy","16":"tag-jose-berrios","17":"tag-lazaro-estrada","18":"tag-max-scherzer","19":"tag-mlb","20":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","21":"tag-shane-bieber","22":"tag-toronto","23":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","24":"tag-torontobluejays","25":"tag-trey-yesavage","26":"tag-tyler-rogers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116324070129801333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}