The Toronto Blue Jays lost Dylan Cease in May because of a hamstring injury. But he made good progress in his rehab assignment. And now it’s full go as Cease will make his return from injury Tuesday against the Phillies, according to a post on X by the Blue Jays.
An eight-year veteran, Cease has enjoyed a good start to the 2026 season. He is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.05 in 11 starts. As usual, he’s racking up strikeouts with 92 in 62 innings of work.
Blue Jays get SP Dylan Cease back in rotation
Cease has changed the way he pitches this season, according to nbcsportsphiladelphia.com.
“This year, he has leaned more heavily on pitches he had thrown before, but not nearly as often,” Cole Weintraub wrote. “The changeup has become a real weapon against lefties. The sinker has given him another look against righties.
“In 2025, Cease threw his changeup just 1 percent of the time. In 2026, he has thrown it 11 percent of the time. He has used it just 1 percent against righties, but 18 percent against lefties.”
Cease was a big free-agent signing for the Blue Jays in the offseason. He agreed to a seven-year, $210 million deal that became the biggest free-agent contract in team history.
The Blue Jays have quite a rotation when healthy. It starts with Kevin Gausman at the top, followed by Cease, Trey Yesavage, and the soon-returning Max Scherzer. Shane Bieber is also working his way back into the mix.
Scherzer’s recent outing was promising, according to sportsnet.ca.
“Good outing to get all pitches going, get attacking, sequencing, all the things,” Scherzer said. “Get in some jams, pitch out of the stretch. So kind of got a little bit of everything out of this start today. Felt like my body really responded well. My arm felt great.”
Meanwhile, Bieber has been up and down in his rehab work. He has been on the injured list all season because of inflammation in his right elbow. The Blue Jays got seven starts from him down the stretch in 2025, and he performed reasonably well in the postseason.
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