ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cody Ponce knew the damage to his right knee was severe based on the “snap, crackles and pops” he heard before he collapsed to the turf. So the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander had already processed that his first season back in the majors since 2021 was over, after just 47 pitches and 2.1 innings, by the time an MRI confirmed the tear to his anterior cruciate ligament a couple of hours later.

As he sat in manager John Schneider’s office deep into that night after a fateful “PFP play I've made 1,000 times,” Ponce kept coming back to his three favourite words — adapt, compensate and overcome.

“Within the first hour or two, it was, all right, this is happening, might as well move forward, move on and keep going,” said Ponce, who rejoined his teammates for this week’s series against the Los Angeles Angels after season-ending surgery Friday. “So, adapt to the situation, if it's torn, it's torn, great, done. Compensate, well, what can I do? I can be part of my team and cheer them on. And overcome the situation that I'm going through and just get as healthy as I can and be ready whenever I can be ready.”

Barring an unusually fast recovery, that will be in time for next spring........

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