Dylan Cease opened Saturday’s game against the Texas Rangers looking every bit like an AL Cy Young candidate, striking out Joc Pederson and Josh Jung to start the frame.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander has been having his most dominant season since 2022, consistently mentioned among MLB’s elite starters. Over his past eight starts, he’d racked up at least seven strikeouts in each outing, matching A.J. Burnett for the second-longest streak in franchise history.
Only Roger Clemens has done better, reaching the mark during 13 straight games back in 1997.
But Saturday’s 7-4 loss to Texas told a different story. Despite collecting 10 strikeouts and pushing his season total to 128 through 15 appearances, Cease gave up four earned runs in just 4.2 innings.
That strikeout pace? It’s tied with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan’s 1989 standard through 15 games and ranks eighth all-time in MLB history.
A Historic Bad Line
What made Saturday’s outing stand out wasn’t just the struggle – it was the uniqueness of it. Cease surrendered all four runs on four hits while walking five batters. According to the numbers, it was the first time a pitcher has compiled that exact pitching line in MLB history.
The Blue Jays handed Cease a seven-year, $210 million deal last offseason, and he’s earned an A grade for stabilizing their rotation. That stability has been crucial, especially with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fighting first-half consistency at the plate.
Things unraveled in the fifth inning. Trailing 1-0, Cease opened the frame by striking out Pederson for the second time. Four batters later, the Rangers had scored Jung and knocked Cease out of the game.
It was just the third start this season he failed to pitch into the sixth inning.
Familiar Problems
Saturday marked another first-inning run allowed for the Blue Jays, their sixth straight game yielding an early score. The team’s struggles continue – they’ve dropped five straight and sit at 39-44, tied for fourth place in the AL East.
Despite the rough outing, Cease still leads the AL in strikeouts and entered Saturday ranked among the top Cy Young candidates.
The question now is whether one historically bad line will derail his pursuit of the league’s top pitching honor. Given his track record this season and that strikeout rate, it seems like it’ll take more than one off day to knock him out of contention.
