Kevin Gausman set the bar high last night with 11 strikeouts over six innings, but Dylan Cease was ready to meet that challenge and exceed it.

Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays early in this past offseason, made his first start as a Blue Jay on Saturday afternoon against the Athletics. With the likes of a young Trey Yesavage, veterans like Gausman and Max Scherzer, and a filled stadium of Jays fans watching his outing, Cease gave them all a preview of what they can hope to expect for the next several seasons.

Cease threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, one run, two walks, and twelve strikeouts, a number he hasn’t reached since May of 2024 against the Cubs. Every Athletics batter struck out against him at least once, with three of them striking out twice. Not only was it a great start to the season and to his tenure as a Blue Jay, but it was also a heck of a bounce back against a squad that tagged him for nine earned runs last season.

Facing a young Athletics lineup that finished in the top 10 in strikeouts last season, he was able to use that to his advantage. Of the 90 pitches Cease threw, 61 of them were thrown for strikes. His pitches generated 24 whiffs on the afternoon, including getting 15 on his slider, the pitch he threw the most on the afternoon.

Of the 22 hitters he faced, Cease got to two strikes within the first three pitches of the at-bat 14 times. Up until the sixth inning, when he ran into some trouble, Cease was sitting at just over an efficient 13 pitches per inning.

Cease struck out the side twice, part of a streak of seven strikeouts in a row between the third and fifth innings. That streak tied a franchise record set by Alek Manoah back in 2021.

His stuff, paired with a four-seam fastball velocity that averaged at 97 mph, was a welcome sight to see for a rotation that hasn’t consisted of similar velocity in recent seasons. Although Cease went heavy fastball/breaking ball combos earlier in the game, he began to mix in his changeup in the 4th inning, getting three whiffs and a called strike on that pitch.

It wasn’t all just Cease’s doing; Toronto’s elite defence playing behind him didn’t wait too long to start saving him runs. Davis Schneider made a fabulous diving catch in left field to rob Jacob Wilson of extra bases in the 2nd inning, and Andrés Giménez fielded a sharp ground ball cleanly (also off the bat of Wilson) and turned a double play to end the inning after the A’s had runners on the corners. Furthermore, Alejandro Kirk took up for his new staff ace with a successful overturned ball-to-strike challenge in the fourth inning.

The defence was a selling point for Cease during the recruiting process, and the fact that it was already on display for him to see was no coincidence. Although not the only fix, it is something that could see the 4.55 ERA that he posted last season come down significantly.

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