Cody Ponce could be headed for surgery after ACL scare

The Blue Jays right-hander is set to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, April 6, after imaging showed a sprained right ACL in his right knee. That meeting is expected to determine whether ACL surgery is needed.

That changes the tone around Ponce's debut in a hurry. What started as a long-awaited return to a big-league mound has turned into a medical decision with season-wide weight.

Schneider already made the stakes plain when he said Ponce will miss significant time. The club still has slight hope he can pitch again in 2026, but that hope now runs straight through Monday's appointment.

The brutal part is how fast it flipped. Ponce got hurt while running to field a ground ball in the third inning of Toronto's March 30 game against Colorado at Rogers Centre.

He had given Toronto 2 1/3 scoreless innings before the play, which made the scene even tougher to absorb inside the dugout and around the clubhouse.

For Ponce, this was supposed to be the start of his shot back in the majors. Instead, the next headline may come from Los Angeles and not the mound.

Ponce is 31, and this outing was his first in MLB since 2021 after spending four years pitching overseas. That is why this setback lands with extra force.

The Blue Jays did not bring him in as a spring curiosity. They signed him because they needed rotation coverage, and early signs pointed to a real role.

Now the focus shifts from lineup cards and matchups to ligament damage and recovery paths. If ElAttrache decides surgery is needed, Toronto's pitching depth takes another hit right out of the gate.

And if surgery is avoided, the club still appears headed for a long absence. Schneider's wording left little room for anything else.

That is the hard truth in this one. Ponce's debut already got taken from him, and the Blue Jays are now waiting for a doctor's read to learn whether the damage goes even deeper.

Monday will not just shape Ponce's recovery plan. It could decide whether Toronto is talking about rehab and return, or about replacing a pitcher who barely got the chance to begin.

If surgery ends up being needed, there is a chance that Ponce's season is already over.