Dylan Cease gets brutally honest on Padres departure

Cease is a 7-year Major League veteran, and he spent the last two seasons with the Padres. He had a brilliant season in 2024 when he was 14-11 with San Diego and started a National League best 33 games. Cease was on the mound for 189.1 inning and he struct out 224 batters while compiling a 3.47 earned run average. He was 4th in National League Cy Young voting.

He was not as effective by comparison in 2025. He was 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA and he was on the mound for 168.0 innings. He showed off his power on the mound with 215 strikeouts and he had a 3.03 strike out-to-walk ratio for the Padres.

While he is clearly happy to be moving on to a strong team like the Blue Jays, Cease said he is going to miss many of his teammates, including his fellow pitchers. “I really liked everyone on this team,” Cease said. “I am going to miss everyone.”

Cease will bring durability to the Blue Jays

A look at Cease’s career indicates that he will post regularly and that he almost never misses his turn on the mound.

Cease spent the first five years of his Major League career with the Chicago White Sox, and he was a mainstay for that team from 2021 through 2023. He made 32 starts for the South Siders in ’21 and ’22, and he followed that with 33 in ’23.

His best performance came in 2022 when he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA. He struck out 227 hitters in 184.0 innings. He finished 2nd in the American League Cy Young voting that season.