Ponce carted off field with knee injury in Blue Jays debut

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Cody Ponce was carted off the field with an injury in the third inning of his team debut Monday.

Ponce was diagnosed with right knee discomfort, the team later announced.

The 31-year-old fell to the ground while trying to field a grounder off the bat of Colorado Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy and was immediately attended to by a trainer.

Louis Varland replaced Ponce, who allowed one hit and one earned run with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

Ponce was making his first MLB appearance since 2021. He signed a three-year, $30-million contract in December after putting together an MVP season in Korea last year.

The Blue Jays' starting rotation is already without injured pitchers José Berríos, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage.