© 2026 ABC News

He missed the remainder of the minor league season and now reportedly wears a carbon fiber insert in his ball cap.

The 26-year-old right-hander threw seven no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds before he was removed for a pinch hitter, making him just the second pitcher to do so in a major league debut. Ross Stripling did it for the Dodgers in 2016, throwing just over seven hitless innings.

\"PHOTO:
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
PHOTO: Daniel Poncedeleon of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds during a game at Great American Ball Park, July 23, 2018, in Cincinnati.
>

While Poncedeleon made the come back of his career, his valiant effort wasn’t enough for the Cards, whose bullpen blew the 1-0 lead and fell to the Reds 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-stuns-incredible-mlb-debut/story?id=56775800","legacySlug":"/culture/story/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-stuns-incredible-mlb-debut-56775800","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"11:43","publishDate":"07-24-2018","updatedTime":"13:28","updatedDate":"07-24-2018","socialImage":{"alt":"Daniel Poncedeleon of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds during a game at Great American Ball Park, July 23, 2018, in Cincinnati.","credit":"Joe Robbins/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Sports/daniel-poncedeleon1-gty-ml-180724_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/24/2018 11:43:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":56775800,"headline":"Pitcher stuns in MLB debut 14 months after injury ","mediaAssetTitle":"MCCARTHY_CARDINALS_PITHCER_COMEBACK","description":"Daniel Poncedeleon threw seven no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds. ","duration":"0:36","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/07/180724_gma_baseball_0733_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["52024796","56660432","56776549"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"December 28, 2017","headline":"Houston Astros first base coach recovering well after emergency brain surgery","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/houston-astros-base-coach-makes-miraculous-post-op-52024796","id":52024796,"image":{"alt":"Houston Astros first base coach recovering well after emergency brain surgery","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Sports/dauer-ht-home-ml-171228_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Dauer Family","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 18, 2018","headline":"Baseball players who put sportsmanship over celebration surprised with honorary ESPY ","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/high-school-baseball-players-put-friendship-sportsmanship-celebrations-56660432","id":56660432,"image":{"alt":"Baseball players who put sportsmanship over celebration surprised with honorary ESPY ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Sports/teens-honored-espys4-gma-ht-mem-180718_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"July 24, 2018","headline":"Pitcher makes MLB debut 14 months after horrific injury ","section":"culture","slug":"/video/56776549","id":56776549,"image":{"alt":"Pitcher makes MLB debut 14 months after horrific injury ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/180724_gma_baseball_0733_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Pitcher stuns in MLB debut 14 months after injury ","description":"Daniel Poncedeleon threw seven no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds. ","duration":"0:36","uploadDate":"07-24-2018","publication":"07-24-2018","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/07/180724_gma_baseball_0733_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/07/180724_gma_baseball_0733_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-stuns-incredible-mlb-debut-56775800"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132873763","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132844494","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Pitcher stuns in MLB debut 14 months after injury ","pubTime":"07:43","pubDate":"07-24-2018","modTime":"09:28","modDate":"07-24-2018","taxonomyTags":"none","id":56775800,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Pitcher stuns in MLB debut 14 months after injury ","mediaAssetTitle":"MCCARTHY_CARDINALS_PITHCER_COMEBACK","videoId":56775800,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-stuns-incredible-mlb-debut-56775800"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/56775800","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/56775800","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};