Dylan Cease Fantasy Stats

Free-agent right-hander Dylan Cease and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed on a seven-year, $210 million deal on Wednesday, pending a physical, sources tell Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. The defending American League champions take one of the best starting arms off the open market a day before Thanksgiving. Cease will join an already strong rotation in Toronto that includes Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, and Jose Berrios. The 29-year-old has five straight seasons with 200 strikeouts, but he's coming off a disappointing final season with the San Diego Padres in 2025, in which he went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA (3.56 FIP), 1.33 WHIP, and 215:71 K:BB in 168 innings over 32 regular-season starts. His 71 free passes were one of the highest marks in baseball. Cease remains an elite strikeout artist who has been durable in his career, but he'll be a risk-reward for both Toronto and fantasy managers going into 2026 in the American League East.

The Chicago Cubs are expected to add reinforcements to their starting rotation this offseason. According to Bruce Levine, the Cubs are planning to pursue free-agent right-hander Dylan Cease. This doesn't come as a surprise considering Cease is going to be one of the top arms in free agency. The 29-year-old is coming off a down year where he posted a 4.55 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 215/71 K/BB ratio across 32 starts with the San Diego Padres this past season. Despite a down year, Cease figures to get a hefty payday this offseason. The Cubs originally drafted Cease in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, but eventually traded him and Eloy Jimenez for Jose Quintana in 2017. This would be a nice full circle story, but there figures to be plenty of suitors for Cease.

San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease will start Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, according to manager Mike Shildt. Right-hander Yu Darvish would likely start Game 3, if necessary, on Thursday. Cease finished the 2025 season with 200-plus strikeouts for the fifth straight season, but all in all, he was a disappointment with a 4.55 ERA (3.56 FIP) and 1.33 WHIP with 71 walks in 168 innings over 32 starts. To close out the regular season, the 29-year-old allowed only a run while striking out eight in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday, but he had only one quality start in his final eight starts. His lone start against the Cubbies came at home all the way back on April 14, when he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits (one homer) while walking one and fanning six in 5 2/3 frames for a no-decision.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease was excellent on the mound during Saturday's outing against the Colorado Rockies. The right-hander tossed six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six batters in the win. Cease had good command in this one as he walked only one batter during this outing. That's the fewest number of batters he has walked in a start since August 3. He'll take a 4.59 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 201/66 K/BB ratio across 30 starts into his next outing against the Chicago White Sox. Cease will be an elite fantasy option for that game.

San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease (4-10) collected his fourth win of the season in a 7-3 decision against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Cease allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings and tallied nine strikeouts against one walk on 90 pitches (59 strikes). The 29-year-old's name was popular in the rumor mill leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, but the Padres decided to keep him. That paid off on Sunday, but Cease still owns an underwhelming 4.60 ERA in 123 1/3 innings (up from 3.47 last season). Cease has been a great source of strikeouts, though, as he ranks fourth in the majors with 162. Only Zack Wheeler, Tarik Skubal, and Garrett Crochet - all aces - have punched out more hitters than Cease. He's scheduled to face the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt said Tuesday that the CT scans of right-hander Dylan Cease's (head) came back negative, per 97.3 The Fan. Cease was hit in the back of the head by a comebacker on Monday and remained in the game until the bottom of the fifth inning, and his departure from the game did not appear to be because of the comebacker, but rather performance and pitch count. Regardless, the Padres wanted Cease to get a CT scan after the contest as a precautionary measure, and the testing revealed no swelling, bleeding, or any other issues. There's no reason to suggest Cease will not be able to make his next scheduled start, which is tentatively lined up for Sunday to take on the Cardinals. Cease has struggled in 2025 with a 4.79 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 118 1/3 innings pitched. That being said, he remains a must-start in fantasy based on his pedigree and upside.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (head) will undergo a CT scan after being hit in the back of the head by a comebacker during his team's 7-6 win over the New York Mets on Monday night. Cease stayed in the game after the incident, which occurred in the third inning. This head injury is the latest setback in what has been a frustrating year for the 29-year-old. In 118 2/3 innings (22 starts), Cease is 3-10 with a 4.79 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 153 strikeouts. His 29.9% strikeout rate remains elite, but Cease is allowing the highest barrel rate (10.7%) of his career, and his 1.29 HR/9 is his highest since 2020. The results of this CT scan will likely determine whether he misses his next start, which had been scheduled to be on Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman reports that the San Diego Padres are listening to offers on right-hander Dylan Cease, with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox among the teams believed to have checked in on Cease. The Padres are currently in the third National League wild-card spot, so they will be buyers at the traded deadline, but they often listen on rental players. Heyman thinks it's a major long shot that they will trade Cease by July 31. The 29-year-old has been a disappointment in 2025 in his second year in SD. Going into the All-Star break, he had an ERA over 6.00 in 27 2/3 innings in his last five starts of the first half. However, he was dominant in his first start back last Friday against the Nats, throwing 5 1/3 scoreless frames with 10 K's and no walks. Cease could easily bounce back in the second half as the Friars look to get into the postseason.

The San Diego Padres have their rotation in place for this weekend's road series against the Washington Nationals. They'll begin the second half of the season with right-handers Dylan Cease (Friday), Yu Darvish (Saturday), and Nick Pivetta (Sunday) taking on a Washington offense that ranks 18th in the majors in runs and 22nd in OPS (.700). Cease has disappointed this year and carries an awful 6.27 road ERA through a 10-start, 51 2/3-inning span. Darvish missed the first three months of the season with elbow inflammation, and the results haven't been pretty in his first two starts back. The 38-year-old has coughed up six earned runs on eight hits with 7:6 K:BB in 8 1/3 innings. Pivetta, on the other hand, has been a resounding success this season, though he has been a lot more effective at home (2.07 ERA in 65 1/3 innings) than on the road (4.09 in 44 frames). He dominated the Nationals in a home win on June 25, throwing seven scoreless, three-hit innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his team's 5-1 win against the visiting Kansas City Royals. The veteran yielded three hits, three walks, hit a batter, and struck out four. Cease notched his fourth start this season with one earned run or fewer, and collected his third win and sixth quality start. It was a nice rebound for him after allowing six runs to the Dodgers his last time out. The 29-year-old has pitched to an inflated 4.43 ERA and 1.29 WHIP through 87 1/3 innings (16 starts), but his xERA stands at a far more appealing 3.47. He'll square off against the Cincinnati Reds on the road the next time he toes the slab.