Blue Jays' Dylan Cease brings more to the table than just a two-pitch mix
Photo credit: https://x.com/TSN
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease has more than just a two-pitch mix in his toolbox.
Cease threw six different pitch types in 2025, but he's known for a fastball-slider combo he's used at least 80 per cent of the time in each of the past four seasons.
Since 2024, no other pitch he's thrown has a usage rate of even 10 per cent.
He hasn't quite been a two-pitch pitcher in the Kevin Gausman mold, but he hasn't been far off.
When Cease faced the Blue Jays earlier this year he struck out six batters with the fastball-slider combo, and this was a team that struck out the least in all of baseball.
He sat down Bo Bichette, George Springer, Addison Barger, Daulton Varsho, and Anthony Santander twice.
Dylan Cease against the Blue Jays earlier this year. That slider and fastball combo is lethal!
Cease has an array of secondary weapons to mix in with his fastball going forward
Speaking of Kevin Gausman, in 2024, Cease joined Pitching Ninja's Rob Friedman to discuss his ridiculously slow his change up is and the topic turned to Kevin Gausman's splitter.
"I've got Gausman's grip, and we will see if I can learn that thing this offseason. I'm not spending too much time on it, but I'm just kinda mixing it in there, so one of these days I'm going to get something that goes like that"
Given that this interview was from 2024, you can bet that now that he and Gausman are teammates, they will work together on that splitter to add another weapon to his repertoire.
Cease's knuckle curve is technically his third pitch, but he threw it 8.5 per cent of the time last season, and it might deserve a bump in usage.
Cease's curveball isn't the only one of his lesser-known pitches that might have some latent potential. He introduced a sweeper in 2024 with some unique movement properties.
Specifically, its induced vertical break is most above average (plus-9 inches) than any of the 161 pitchers who threw at least 100 sweepers last year.
Cease threw only 106 sweepers last season, but they generated seven strikeouts with opponents slugging just .095 against them good for a plus-4 run value.
Some serious swing-and-miss stuff is headed to Toronto. Since 2021, Dylan Cease has struck out 1,106 batters - the most in MLB!
Last year's numbers may be more statistical noise than anything, but the overall pattern is there.
Cease is far from the only pitcher who hitters seem to do better against with more at-bats, but his heavy reliance on two pitches could make it easier to adjust to him.
Over the course of his tenure in Toronto, Cease and the Blue Jays will undoubtedly spend a lot of time looking into what approach will make him the best pitcher he can be.
Cease already has a couple of intriguing weapons in his back pocket that could help him address some of the issues he's faced in recent years.
It will be intriguing to see how it all plays out when he faces AL East batters on a more consistent basis in 2026.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 28 | 802 ANSWERS Blue Jays' Dylan Cease brings more to the table than just a two-pitch mix Do you think Dylan Cease will benefit from the Blue Jays facilities, coaches and having, Gausman, Bieber, Yesavage at his disposal? | ||
TRENDING NOW
