Cody Ponce's Blue Jays debut cut short after knee buckles fielding ground ball

Cody Ponce's first start for the Toronto Blue Jays was supposed to be a personal victory after playing in Asia for five years.

Instead, Ponce was carted off the field, covering his face with his arm, overcome with emotion and pain after his right knee buckled fielding a ground ball.

"He's getting an MRI right now. We'll see," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider on Monday night. "He felt it hyperextend a little bit, that's what he told me on the field.

"But we've got to wait for the MRI results and we're hoping for the best."

Ponce was cruising along on Monday in his first regular-season start for Toronto as the Blue Jays suffered a 14-5 drubbing at the hands of the visiting Colorado Rockies.

Facing centre-fielder Jake McCarthy in the third inning, he tumbled off the mound, earning a balk that advanced Kyle Karros to third. Ponce insisted he was unhurt, laughing as he composed himself and continued the at bat.

Three pitches later, McCarthy hit a ground ball between the mound and first base. Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement charged the ball and Ponce chased after it, but Clement gave the larger pitcher space to make the play.

Instead, Ponce's right knee buckled, and he rolled to the ground past first base as McCarthy reached safely and Karros scored.

Schneider said that Ponce, Clement, and Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., all did what they were supposed to do on the play.

"I think if [Ponce] caught the ball, it might have been a different outcome," said Schneider. "I think as he kind of stumbled to recover the ball, is where the injury happened."

Ponce played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021, appearing in a total of 20 games with a 1-7 record and a 5.86 earned-run average. He had 48