Two now former NPB pitchers signed deals with MLB teams last week. Cody Ponce, who had three mediocre seasons in Japan with the Fighters (2022-23) and Eagles (2024) before spending last season in Korea, has signed a three year deal with Toronto. His 2025 KBO season was spectacular - he went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and struck out 252 in 180 2/3 innings and won the MVP award. The highlight of his NPB tenure was the no-hitter he threw against the Hawks back in 2022. The lowlight was probably the game I saw him pitch in Fukuoka last year where those same Hawks beat his Rakuten Eagles 21-0. He was tagged with 12(!) earned runs in three plus innings of work which raised his ERA from 4.50 to 7.05. He didn't bring it down too much the rest of the season as he ended the season with a 6.72 ERA. (In fairness to him, I saw him pitch well and beat the Hawks in Sendai a week before that.)
The other pitcher is Anthony Kay, who spent two serviceable seasons the past two years with Yokohama, who signed a two year deal with the White Sox. I don't have a whole lot to say about Kay other than to mention that he won an "Outstanding Player" award in the 2024 Nippon Series when the Baystars won the championship. I think I'm more optimistic for Kay's chances in MLB than Ponce's as Kay's put up decent numbers in a hitters ballpark (despite NPB being a terrible offensive environment the past few years). I'm not sure I'd have given Ponce a three year deal but, hey, it's not my money and good for him.
Here's cards of both of them - Ponce's card celebrates his no-hitter:
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| 2022 Epoch One #750 |
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| 2024 BBM 2nd Version #416 |
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