TORONTO – Cal Poly Pomona baseball alum Cody Ponce made history on Tuesday, agreeing to a three-year, $30 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. This marks the largest sports contract ever signed by a Cal Poly Pomona Athletics alum, as well as doubling the largest contract ever given to a domestic player returning from the Korea Baseball Organization.
Just last Monday, Ponce was named the Most Valuable Player of the Korea Baseball Organization, while also winning the Choi Dong-won Award (KBO-equivalent of the Cy Young) unanimously. Ponce went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 180.2 innings for the Hanwha Eagles, leading the team to the Korean Series, where they would ultimately fall to the LG Twins in five games. He picked up the only win for the Eagles in game three, after giving a six-inning quality start.
Ponce, a native of Upland, set the KBO single-season strikeout record on September 3
rd, and also set the single-game record with 18 strikeouts back on May 17
th against the SSG Landers. In June, he was named the starting pitcher of the Korean All-Star Game with 1.62 million votes, the third-most of any player selected for either team, and was named the KBO League MVP for the month of April.
A member of the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team from 2013-2015, Ponce helped lead the Broncos to the 2015 NCAA Division II College World Series, where they would finish in the national semifinals. In 185.2 innings thrown for the Green & Gold, Ponce posted an impressive 2.42 career ERA with a 14-10 record across 47 appearances. He is one of just four pitchers in school history to throw at least 85 innings and not allow a single home run, while also ranking Top 10 in both saves and ERA. Furthermore, he only allowed 22 extra base hits in his CPP career for a jarring .596 opponent OPS.
Following the 2015 season with the Broncos, Ponce was drafted in the second round (55th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers, the fifth-highest MLB Draft pick in school history. After spending five seasons in the minor leagues, Ponce made his Major League debut on August 2, 2020 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the 12th Bronco to appear in an MLB game. He then spent three seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) League, including throwing a no-hitter on August 27th, 2022 for the Nippon Ham Fighters, before playing in Korea this past season.
Ponce will now join a Toronto club that has its eyes set on a return trip to the Major League Baseball World Series.