Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher keeps the dream alive after historic KBO season

Pittsburgh Pirates fans would be forgiven if they did not remember right-handed pitcher Cody Ponce. A former second-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015, Ponce was traded to the Bucs at the 2019 trade deadline in exchange for Jordan Lyles. He only tossed 55.1 innings in black and gold between 2020 and 2021, while putting up a meager 5.86 ERA (75 ERA+), 5.47 FIP, and 1.54 WHIP.

After 2021, the Pirates let Ponce go to pursue a baseball career in Japan. Three unimpressive seasons in the NPB led Ponce to head for South Korea's KBO prior to the 2025 campaign, where he just revived his career with an historic season.

Ponce pitched a career-high 180.2 innings, completely dwarfing his former career high of 137.1 set in 2017. In that time, Ponce posted a 1.89 ERA, 1.92 FIP, and 0.938 WHIP.

ERA-, a statistical measure where 100 is the league average, 99 is 1% better than average, 101 is 1% worse than average, and so on and so forth, marked Ponce down at 44. Ponce's K% came in at an otherworldly 36.2% (league average was 19.7% in 2025), while he only walked 5.9% of his opponents (league average was 9.2% this year).

Former Pirates pitcher Cody Ponce sets records and keeps the dream alive after historic 2025 season in the KBO

Ponce set a KBO record by striking out 252 batters, which is the most a pitcher in their league has struck out in a single season. While the KBO hasn't been around as long as MLB or NPB, as their inaugural season was in 1982, Ponce breaking the record is still a rare accomplishment, of which he should be extremely proud.

That's not the only major accomplishment Ponce piled up in his first season in South Korea. He also took home the pitching triple crown. The Hanwha Eagles did not do to Ponce what the Pirates' lineup did to Paul Skenes. Instead, they helped lead him to a 17-1 record in 29 starts. He was the only pitcher this season with a sub-2.00 ERA and, obviously, he led the league in Ks.

However, the more important thing is that this dream season may have just revived Ponce's baseball career. He struggled badly with the Pirates in Major League Baseball. In his final season in Japan, Ponce put up a 4.61 ERA with a 1.41 WHIP. Keep in mind that NBP is currently experiencing a dead-ball era, and the league's average ERA and WHIP last season were 3.04 and 1.19, respectively. Ponce isn't young, either, as 2025 was his age-31 season. Having another poor season may have put the nail in the coffin for Ponce.

We shall see if Ponce decides to take his talents back to the United States and attempt a comeback in Major League Baseball in the near future. Ponce may be entering his age-32 season next year, and the KBO's overall talent level sits somewhere between Double-A and Triple-A, but his 2025 was historic nonetheless.

If he decides to test MLB free agency, he'd definitely get some bites on the market. Regardless of whether he ends up with an MLB team in 2026 or stays in the KBO for another season, we are glad to see a player potentially save their career from its onrushing end.