DUNEDIN — In a sport obsessed with velocity charts, spin rates and biomechanics, Cody Ponce insists the secret to the best season of his life wasn’t hidden in a lab or buried in analytics software. It was buried in something far less measurable.

His inner child.

Standing under the Florida sun at the Toronto Blue Jays spring training complex, the 31-year-old right-hander smiled as he tried to explain the transformation that resurrected a career once drifting on the margins of Major League Baseball. “I wouldn’t even so much say it’s baseball-wise,” Ponce said Sunday. “More just personality-wise. I was a young pup coming up and down quite a bit… and having the ability to create my own routines and figure that all out, and also just finding my inner child.”

For a pitcher who last appeared in the majors in 2021 bouncing between the big club and Triple-A in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, it sounds almost mystical. But the results were anything but imaginary.

After leaving North America, Ponce rebuilt himself overseas — five seasons in Japan, then a dominant campaign in South Korea’s KBO League with the Hanwha Eagles. In 2024, he went 17-1 across 29 starts, posted a microscopic 1.89 ERA and racked up 252 strikeouts, earning league MVP honors. Toronto rewarded that breakout with a three-year, $30-million contract on Dec. 10, betting that the rebirth was real.

So what does reconnecting with one’s “inner child” actually look like for a 6-foot-6 professional pitcher?

“Falling more in love with Star Wars,” Ponce said, laughing. The lifelong fan sports multiple Star Wars tattoos, including an elaborate sleeve covering his lower right leg. “Keeping a smile on my face a little bit more, and just enjoying a ball game.”

The Force, apparently, was strong with him.

But behind the playful tone lies something deeper. During his early stint with Pittsburgh, Ponce was a shuttle arm — summoned, optioned, recalled, sent down again. The instability chipped away at confidence. Overseas, removed from the churn of MLB transactions, he built his own routines, rediscovered joy and, perhaps most critically, simplified the mental noise.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider has seen countless explanations for sudden success, but even he was intrigued. “I’ve heard a lot as to why guys are having success,” Schneider said with a grin. “You might catch him doing some yoga. You might catch him running around with no shoes on. I haven’t heard ‘inner child’ in a while, but kind of fitting for Cody.”

There is, of course, a more tangible baseball reason for Ponce’s surge: his devastating kick changeup. The pitch — gripped across all four seams with a lighter middle-finger pressure that spikes downward at release — became a weapon overseas. Hitters swung over it repeatedly, often buckling as it vanished beneath barrels.

Yet even that story carries an international twist. Baseballs used in Japan and Korea differ from the MLB version — slightly smaller, higher seams, tackier leather. To maintain feel, Ponce trained with both. When playing catch with Jordan Montgomery of the Texas Rangers, he’d use a big-league ball. When throwing with James Naile of the Kia Tigers, he’d switch to the Korean ball. It was a daily calibration of touch and texture, ensuring his signature pitch wouldn’t lose bite upon returning stateside.

“He was looking forward to the Major League ball,” Schneider noted. “He thinks he’s going to get a little bit better action on it with these balls. So far, so good.”

Toronto will need that action immediately. With Shane Bieber slowed by forearm fatigue and still stretching out at 90 feet, Ponce is in line to open the season in the rotation. Bieber, the 2020 American League Cy Young winner, has yet to extend to 120 feet, though Schneider remains cautiously optimistic about his progress. “More encouraging right now is just how he’s feeling during and after,” the manager said.

That uncertainty only amplifies the stakes. The Blue Jays are not paying $30 million for a feel-good story. They are investing in a pitcher they believe has evolved — emotionally and technically — into a frontline contributor.

In a league bracing for labor uncertainty and competitive imbalance debates, Ponce’s journey offers a counter-narrative: growth doesn’t always happen under the brightest lights. Sometimes it happens thousands of miles away, in different languages, with different baseballs and a different mindset.

And sometimes, it starts with rediscovering what made you love the game in the first place.

If Cody Ponce’s 17-1 masterpiece was any indication, the inner child he found overseas may now be ready for the biggest stage of all. For Toronto, that possibility isn’t fantasy — it’s hope, wrapped in a fastball and a fearless smile.