Toronto Blue Jays Major Acquisition Exits Game Against Colorado Rockies

· Yahoo Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays have been off to a blazing start to the season but may have just suffered a major loss.

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The Blue Jays entered Monday's game against the visiting Colorado Rockies at 3-0 and looking to carry the momentum from a series sweep against the Athletics.

Right-handed pitcher Cody Ponce, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with Toronto this offseason coming off an MVP season in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), was making his first start of the season (and first in MLB since 2021) on Monday.

Ponce was doing well in his first outing of the year: He had three strikeouts, walked one batter and allowed one earned run on one hit in 2.1 innings.

However, Ponce's day was done early due to a knee or leg injury that could have long term ramifications for him and the Blue Jays.

Ponce attempted to field a softly-hit ground ball from Rockies center fielder Jake McCarthy.

Ponce stumbled attempting to get a hold of the ball and his right knee appeared to buckle. He went down on the ground and Colorado third baseman Kyle Karros, who was walked to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch and reached third on a balk, scored on the play to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead.

Ponce was ultimately carted off the field and reliever Louis Varland stepped in to get Toronto out of the inning.

Ponce was able to walk to the cart mostly under his own power with the athletic trainers providing support, but was sporting a noticeable limp while doing it.

There were no further updates on the severity of the injury at the time of publishing.

Not only would a long-term injury be disastrous for Ponce, who's just now returning stateside after a four-season excursion in Japan and Korea, it would also add to the growing list of pitching injuries for the Blue Jays.

Starting pitchers Jose Berrios, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber are all currently out with respective injuries. Berrios has a stress fracture in his elbow, Yesavage is nursing a shoulder impingement and Bieber is dealing with forearm fatigue in his throwing arm.

High-leverage reliever Yimi Garcia is also currently out for Toronto due to elbow surgery.

All four hurlers are at varying points in their recovery and an injury to Ponce would force the Blue Jays to be creative in their rotation.

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