Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Cody Ponce has been diagnosed with a sprained anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and will miss significant time after being carted off of the field on Monday night in his first start with the team.

MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reports that more doctors are reviewing the results of Ponce’s MRI to determine if surgery will be needed.

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

Cuban right-hander Lazaro Estrada has been given a locker in the Blue Jays clubhouse, but no official transaction has been made by the club, Matheson added.

Estrada made two appearances for the Blue Jays last season, pitching to an 8.59 earned-run average across 7 1/3 innings.

Ponce, who inked a three-year, $30 million with the club this offseason, left Monday’s game in the top of the third inning while attempting to field a ground ball off the bat of Jake McCarthy. He was later carted off by the team’s medical staff.

His final line for Monday’s start was one hit and one run allowed with three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings pitched.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said via Matheson that the team is hoping Ponce will return at some point this season.

The 31-year-old right-hander joined Toronto this past winter after winning the MVP award last year in the Korea Baseball Organization. He was 17-1 with a 1.89 earned-run average in 29 starts last season for the Hanwha Eagles.

He had a 0.66 ERA this spring in five outings with 12 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings pitched.

Ponce began his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched in parts of 2020 and 2021 before heading to Japan and then eventually Korea.

The Jays will continue their series with Colorado on Tuesday at Rogers Centre, sending Max Scherzer to the hill against Ryan Feltner.