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Dylan Cease stays dominant as Blue Jays’ late rally solves Rays’ pitching
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
May 14, 2026, 00:00 EDTUpdated: May 13, 2026, 23:56 EDT
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TORONTO — Dylan Cease appears to be entering his dominant Blue Jays era.
The $210-million starter has been virtually untouchable now over his last two starts, last Friday against the Los Angeles Angels and Wednesday night versus the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Here’s the right-hander’s official pitching line from those two outings:
  • 14.0 combined innings, one run on eight hits and three walks allowed, 19 strikeouts
Cease has provided the best of both worlds during his eighth and ninth starts as a Blue Jay, maintaining his elite strikeout ability while also pitching deep into both games. And against the Rays, he accomplished something he had never done before: compile at least seven innings in three consecutive starts.
Last season, mind you, Cease struggled mightily in this regard. Of the 32 starts he made with the San Diego Padres, he only pitched seven innings twice — and it took him until June 10 to reach that mark the second time.
But this year’s version of Cease is vastly different from last year’s. He’s starting to unlock his Cy Young-calibre potential again, just as he did as an American League finalist in 2022 and as a fourth-place finisher in the NL two years ago.
“I love where he’s at,” manager John Schneider said of Cease, who lowered his ERA to 2.41 and FIP to 1.88 on the season following his latest pitching gem.
Cease, who leads the AL in strikeouts this season with 75 and trails only Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski (80) for first among major-league starters, wasn’t nearly as efficient with his pitch count this time compared to his previous start against the Angels — when he registered a 68 per cent strike rate, his third-highest clip since the start of last season.
But he still attacked the strike zone aggressively, converting 61.6 per cent of his 99 pitches for strikes across seven innings of one-run, three-hit ball in Wednesday’s 5-3 walk-off, extra-innings win over the Rays.
If Cease had it his way, though, his outing would’ve continued into the eighth. Schneider joked post-game that he had to tell his starting pitcher to “pump the breaks” in the moment. The time will come to push him further — or, at least, this team hopes it will.
From Cease’s first pitch, it was clear he had some of his best no-hit stuff, quite literally, as he didn’t allow a single baserunner to reach his first time through Tampa Bay’s lineup.
“He was in total control,” said Schneider. “He’s pitching and understanding when he needs to get a quick out, and understanding when he needs to get a strikeout. I thought him and [Tyler Heineman] had a great mix of pitches throughout his entire outing.”
It was one of those nights where Cease had confidence in all six of his pitches. But his sinker, in particular, proved to be one of his most overpowering weapons against the Rays hitters. He utilized it against both righties and lefties, producing a 38 per cent CSW% (called strike + whiff rate) on 16 swings, but it was most effective versus left-handed batters.
The 30-year-old righty excels at throwing front-hip sinkers in those matchups, and it’s one of his favourite pitches to execute with. That’s because of how difficult it is to make contact against, especially when he’s dotting it up-and-in at 97 m.p.h. — like he did to Jonathan Aranda for a called strike three in the top of the first inning.
“For lefties, I think it’s a hard pitch to stay in on and I think it opens up a lot of other pitches,” Cease said. “It’s never going to be my bread and butter, but I think it’s a pitch that I could go to, to either get the strike or set something else up. So it’s helped a lot.”
Source: Baseball Savant
These last two starts are part of what the Blue Jays organization envisioned when they made the giant free-agent splash for Cease over the off-season, inking him to the richest free-agent contract in franchise history. And they did that, believing this is who he could become with some work around the edges.
While this is only a tiny sample size and there’s still plenty of ball left to play, you can start to imagine where this train could ultimately end up if it stays on course.
“I always think that there’s room to be better and [you] learn from every start,” said Cease. “But, I like where my feel has been, especially the last two [starts]. So, if I stay right there and just continue to do that, I’m gonna be very happy.”
When Cease is pitching like this, not only is he virtually untouchable, but he also makes work for his teammates behind him pretty “boring,” particularly if you’re watching him from centre field like Daulton Varsho.
“He’s a great pitcher. He’s very intelligent,” Varsho added, after producing the club’s first walk-off grand slam since Steve Pearce’s in 2017. “He knows what he wants to do on the mound, and he’s earned everything he’s gotten so far. He’s developed even better than what I faced him when he was in Chicago and San Diego. So it’s very impressive to watch.”
Thanks to Varsho’s heroics, the Blue Jays edged out the Rays in Wednesday’s rematch series finale at the Rogers Centre, avoiding another sweep and earning their first victory against them in six attempts this season. It’s a massive swing that not only both he and the team needed, but also a momentum shift that all involved hope will carry over on the upcoming road trip through Detroit and New York (Bronx).
Fortunately for Toronto’s injury-depleted rotation, Cease’s next start is lined up for Tuesday’s contest against the Yankees, whose boom-or-bust offence entered Wednesday leading the majors in home runs (66) across the quarter-mark of the 2026 campaign.
Based on these last two dominating Dylan Cease start days, that figures to be a must-watch showdown.

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