The right-hander will likely miss his final start of the season with shoulder inflammation.
Over the weekend, we heard that Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease was not going to make his regularly scheduled start on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, and that he was having an MRI in Toronto.
Well, now we know that Cease has shoulder inflammation and it's unclear if he will make a final start this weekend against the Cincinnati Reds.
If the series ends up meaning something in terms of the Blue Jays getting to the playoffs, then it would be possible to see Cease again, but with the team's playoff chances down to just about one percent, it's looking increasingly unlikely that he'll pitch again this season.
In a detailed media session on Monday, Cease told reporters, including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, that he wasn't pitching through pain, describing his shoulder as an "annoyance."
Cease's velocity has been going down for weeks, and I personally noticed him throwing in the 93-95 range instead of the 97-100 range in a late-August start against the Seattle Mariners. Even though Cease had great results, the velocity drop was noticeable, and the control had grown spottier as well.
He walked six over 2.2 innings in a crucial loss against the Texas Rangers on Friday night, a loss that really put a damper on Toronto's postseason hopes. He only struck out three.
Assuming Cease does not make another start this season, he will see one of the more impressive streaks in baseball come to an end: In an era defined by maximum velocity and the injuries that result from it, Cease had made 30 starts or more in five consecutive full seasons. He even worked a full start (12) workload in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, showing extremely rare durability.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) walks in from the bullpen prior to his start against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn ImagesThis season, Cease has made 29 starts, as he missed a small amount of time earlier in the year because of a hamstring issue.
Regardless of how the season ends, it's been an incredible year for the right-hander, who was signed to a seven-year, $210 million deal in the offseason.
He's gone 11-6 with a 2.40 ERA, striking out 239 in just 169.0 innings. Opponents are hitting only .180 against him. He leads the American League in homers/9, strikeouts/9 and hits allowed/9.
Cease says regardless of whether or not he pitches again this season, this injury will not require surgery and will not impact him in 2027.
And it looks like worries about 2027 are coming sooner than anyone wants.
The Blue Jays will take on the Orioles again on Tuesday night. There are five games left in the season.
