TWELVE STRIKEOUTS FOR CEASE. That's a Blue Jays debut RECORD! #BlueJays50
Dylan Cease breaks record for most strikeouts in Blue Jays debut
Photo credit: © Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Mar 28, 2026, 17:15 EDTUpdated: Mar 28, 2026, 17:13 EDT
Dylan Cease had an electric debut.
On Saturday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays’ newest ace made his first start as a Jay and immediately set a record, striking out 12 batters over his five and one-third innings of work. That is the most strikeouts in a Blue Jays’ debut, surpassing David Price’s debut back in 2015.
The Blue Jays jumped the market to sign Cease this past off-season, agreeing to a seven-year deal worth $210 million. If Cease pitches anything like this for the duration of the contract, it may just go down as the best signing in team history.
In the first inning, Cease got the first batter he faced, Nick Kurtz, to strike out with an 88.4 mph slider. With a runner on first, that slider also fooled Brent Rooker, who whiffed on three of them to end the inning.
There's the first strikeout for Dylan Cease as a Blue Jay! 🎥 Sportsnet | #Bluejays
Cease’s second inning only had one strikeout, ending the inning with a 98.5 mph heater that generated a whiff from Max Muncy. The right-handed pitcher ran into some trouble in the top of the third. A 98.6 mph heater froze Denzel Clarke to get two outs, but the next two runners reached. That didn’t matter, as Cease got Tyler Soderstrom to strike out on a mid-80s knuckle curve.
All three batters Cease faced in the top of the fourth struck out. Rooker whiffed on a 99.6 mph fastball, then Jacob Wilson struck out on a 86.2 mph sweeper. The inning ended after Cease caught the bottom of the zone to freeze Jeff McNeil.
In the top of the fifth, Muncy struck out swing a second time, getting beat with a 90.7 mph slider way outside the zone. Carlos Cortes struck out swinging on an 81.9 mph changeup, and Clarke struck out on a nasty 90 mph slider. Cease’s final strikeout came in the top of the eighth, getting Shea Langeliers to whiff on a 98.8 heater.
He eventually allowed a run to score, but Cease finished with a line of 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K. Paired with Kevin Gausman’s 11-strikeout game on Friday, it’s the first time two teammates have struck out 11 or more batters in the team’s first two games since 1901.
Electric.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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