Cody Ponce could be the latest pitcher to return to MLB after reinventing himself overseas, and he’s reportedly drawing a lot of interest on the free-agent market.
Ponce, who played two seasons for the Pirates from 2020-21, has been pitching in Japan and Korea for the past four seasons. After an excellent 2025 season in the KBO League, the 31-year-old right-hander is expected to return to the Major Leagues in 2026 — and he could command a healthy contract.
According to a report from The Athletic on Monday (subscription required), Ponce could land a deal in the three-year range that’s worth at least $30 million, if not $40-plus million.
Ponce went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 180 2/3 innings (12.6 K/9) for the Hanwha Eagles last season. Ponce’s 252 K’s set a new KBO single-season record, and he also set the single-game record with 18 strikeouts on May 17. Ponce was named the KBO League MVP and won the Choi Dong-won Award as the league’s top starting pitcher.
He was a new-look pitcher in Korea. Ponce’s fastball velocity sat around 95 mph, two mph higher than it was with the Pirates during his time in MLB. He also added a new splitter that became a highly effective strikeout pitch.
Ponce was much more effective in his one season in Korea than he was during his time in Nippon Professional Baseball or in the Majors (although he did throw a no-hitter in NPB in 2022).
In his two seasons in Pittsburgh, Ponce went 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in 20 games (five starts) and 48 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings. In his three seasons in Japan, he went 10-16 with a 4.54 ERA in 39 outings for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, with 165 strikeouts in 202 innings.
Multiple pitchers over the last few years have successfully returned to the Major Leagues after pitching in Korea or Japan. Recent examples include Erick Fedde (KBO to the White Sox in 2024), Nick Martinez (NPB to the Padres in 2022), Merrill Kelly (KBO to the D-backs in 2019) and Miles Mikolas (NPB to the Cardinals in 2018).
