Dylan Cease is stepping into one of those starts that can shape everything around a team’s September. The Blue Jays need him to steady a rotation that has been hanging by a thread, and they need it now, with Cleveland sitting right in front of them in the wild card race.
Toronto opened the series with a bullpen game that did enough for a while. Spencer Miles, Ricky Tiedemann and Spencer Arrighetti combined to give up two runs over 5.2 innings, but the night unraveled once Joe Mantiply and Michael Lorenzen took over. That leaves the Blue Jays still searching for traction, and still relying on a staff that currently includes Cease, José Soriano, a 42-year-old Max Scherzer and two bullpen days.
That is the backdrop for Wednesday night. A loss would leave Toronto 3.5 games behind in the chase for the third wild card spot, with Soriano, Scherzer and plenty of uncertainty still ahead.
Cease, though, has given the Blue Jays exactly what they were hoping for in his first season with the club. The 30-year-old is 9-5 with a 2.33 ERA and a league-best 217 strikeouts, and he’s coming off a run of three straight starts in which he went at least six innings, allowed fewer than three runs and struck out at least eight.
That kind of form is why Toronto committed seven years and $210 million to the Milton, Georgia native last winter. Nights like this are the reason those deals get made.
The timing also matters for Cease on a personal level. He is in a tight AL Cy Young race with Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees.
Schlittler has the edge in ERA, WHIP and WAR, but Cease leads in strikeouts, and Schlittler has some questions hanging over him as the season winds down. His production dipped last season in the final month after a huge August, and the Yankees may not give him as many chances to strengthen his case while they work to get him playoff-ready.
So Wednesday brings more than just a big start for Toronto. It gives Cease a chance to strengthen the Blue Jays’ postseason push and make his own award case even harder to ignore.
In Other News...
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That is why names like Cal Raleigh, Luis Arraez, Brandon Lowe, Ryan Mountcastle, Gleyber Torres and Seiya Suzuki surface so naturally in the discussion. Each brings a different offensive profile, but the common thread is fit, and the Blue Jays are weighing whether those past trips to Toronto can help identify the kind of hitter who could translate best if the club decides to be aggressive about upgrading the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Just Reopened A Frustrating Outfield Question With Baltimore Watching
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Luis Robert Jr. only sharpened the backdrop. Toronto reportedly had waiver priority to claim him but passed, and Baltimore stepped in to add a player whose recent offensive improvement and defensive value could matter in a crowded wild-card race. For the Blue Jays, the decision leaves the outfield question hanging in plain view, with the Orioles now carrying the upside Toronto chose not to chase. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Wild Card Push Now Rests On A Rotation Barely Holding Up
The Blue Jays rotation has been battered by injuries, trades and the kind of constant shuffling that leaves a staff looking nothing like it did earlier in the season. On a recent night against the Guardians, Toronto had to piece together the game with five different pitchers, a snapshot of how far the club has drifted from its original pitching plans while trying to stay in the Wild Card race.
Kevin Gausman is gone after being traded, Jose Berrios and Bowden Francis are both sidelined following surgery, and the margin for error keeps shrinking with each passing series. Jameson Taillon is expected back soon from injury, which at least gives Toronto a possible stabilizer, but the larger question is whether there is enough healthy depth left to carry this push through the stretch. [Read more 🡒]