Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Monday that Toronto ace right-hander Dylan Cease will be placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left hamstring injury.
Cease, 30, left Sunday’s start against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning with what the team called “mild left hamstring discomfort.”
After Cease shook his left leg between pitches, Schneider and head athletic trainer Jose Ministral came out to check on the eight-year veteran. Cease retired Spencer Horwitz before being replaced by Mason Fluharty.
“It doesn’t look too terrible, knock on wood,” Schneider said Monday. “Just trying to be smart and not have it get worse. Don’t know the exact timeline yet … hoping it’s a minimal stay.”
Cease gave up two runs and four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings, marking only the second time in 11 starts this season that he failed to complete five innings.
Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero isn’t in Monday’s starting lineup against the Miami Marlins due to elbow soreness.
Guerrero was hit by a pitch on the right elbow during Sunday’s game against the Pirates.
Schneider termed Guerrero’s status as day-to-day.
“See how he feels as the day goes on,” Schneider told reporters. “But didn’t want to push it with him, just in talking to him last night and today.”
Guerrero has just three homers in 53 games this season. The five-time All-Star is batting .287 with 22 RBIs.
Signed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays in December, Cease has been one of the most durable starting pitchers in the majors. In each of the last five seasons, he is one of four starters to make 30 or more starts, along with fellow Blue Jays Kevin Gausman, Patrick Corbin and Jose Berrios.
This will also mark the first time during Cease’s major league career that he will be on the injured list due to a physical ailment.
Cease spent the previous two seasons with the San Diego Padres and tossed the franchise’s second no-hitter in 2024 when he went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts. He struck out 224 and finished fourth in National League Cy Young balloting.
He spent his first five big league seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He was the American League Cy Young runner-up in 2022 when he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA and a career-high 227 strikeouts in 32 starts.
Cease has fanned 200 or more batters in five straight seasons and is 68-61 with a 3.83 ERA in 199 career starts.
