Cody Ponce

I beat this drum a bit the other day when looking at realistic free agent additions for the Cardinals’ rotation, but I really do think Cody Ponce could be a bargain signing that pays major dividends for the Cardinals in 2026 and possibly beyond.

Ponce, like many before him, struggled in his Major League opportunities early on in his career and took a few years in Asia between the NPB and KBO to refine his game. While Cardinals fans likely have a hard time shaking Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas’ endings with St. Louis from their heads, it is important to remember how successful they both were in their initial return to MLB, and Ponce actually has some exciting traits that neither of them possessed when they came back stateside.

Looking at the numbers, Ponce posted a 1.89 ERA in 180.2 innings in the KBO last year, winning MVP honors and striking out a league record 36.2% of the batters he faced. He was dominant over there, and while the competition is obviously worse, he made true changes to his arsenal that make him an intriguing target for the Cardinals.

Ponce’s fastball bumped up multiple ticks of velocity in 2025, sitting around 95.5 MPH on average and a max velocity of 98 MPH with true ride and run to the pitch that feels transferable to Major League Baseball. Having both a sinker and a cutter at his disposal as well, he has the tools to attack both right-handed and left-handed hitters with his four-seam fastball or fastball variations, and he pairs an absolutely nasty kick-change that sits around 88 MPH. The depth he gets on that pitch makes it a true strikeout pitch coming back to the big leagues.

Again, that kick-change is a new pitch for Ponce, as he ditched the change-up he had used in MLB prior to this nasty offering. The 8 MPH difference between his fastball and change-up makes it something that hitters will have a hard time timing up and can be easily fooled when Ponce is on his game.

Ponce isn’t likely to command a large deal (my guess is somewhere around $12ish million on a one-to-three-year deal), which makes him a pretty low-risk signing overall. Even if his stuff doesn’t translate as well as it seems like it may, Ponce would still be making fairly little money to provide St. Louis with another rotation option, so it feels like a smart gamble to make, considering the potential upside that lies in Ponce’s arm.