Dylan

Cease

This is the Cease we’ve been waiting for. The 29-year-old right-hander had his best start of the season against a tough Dodgers lineup, holding Los Angeles scoreless over seven innings while collecting a season-high 11 strikeouts on 24 whiffs. Cease will look to follow up the strong outing when he takes a 4.28 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a 96/29 K/BB ratio across 75 2/3 innings into a start against the same Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday.

He also struck out seven and walked three while posting a 48 percent whiff rate and 41 percent CSW. Cease was missing plenty of bats today, but he only had a 50 percent zone rate with the four-seam fastball, which led to some walks and deeper counts than he would have preferred. Still, this start had more good than bad in it, and it seems like Cease is set for a strong run of performance in the near future. It may not start next week against the Dodgers though.

Cease allowed seven hits, and the 29-year-old also issued a walk while throwing 59-of-95 pitches for strikes. The right-hander had done a much better job of getting deep into games for most of May, but his last two outings were much more in tune with his struggles of April. Cease will try to get June off to a good start while lowering his 4.66 ERA when he faces the Giants on Thursday.

The 29-year-old hurler still managed to rack up eight strikeouts in the contest without walking a batter, so it wasn’t all bad for fantasy managers. He allowed an RBI double to Ozzie Albies in the second inning, then the Braves scratched out another pair of runs in Cease’s final inning of work on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch. Cease got 19 swings and misses in 88 pitches on the day — a staggering 14 of those on his slider — while posting a CSW of 31 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he carries a 4.58 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a 72/20 K/BB ratio (59 innings) into Saturday’s strong matchup against the Pirates.

The 29-year-old hurler punched out six batters on the evening while allowing one free pass. All of the damage that was done against him came via the long ball, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slugging a solo shot in the opening inning and Anthony Santander adding on a two-run blast in the fifth. Cease generated 14 swings and misses on 100 pitches on the night — nine of those on his slider — while registering a strong CSW of 33 percent. He’ll look to get back in the win column as he totes a 4.50 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 64/19 K/BB ratio (54 innings) into Sunday’s tilt against the Braves in Atlanta.

Cease was pulled with a 2-1 lead after walking a batter with two outs in the seventh and then watched as the Angels went on to score three runs in the frame. It left him with his sixth no-decision in nine starts. Still, he set a season-high for strikeouts for the second straight outing. He has a 3.06 ERA and a 40/12 K/BB while going 0-1 in his last six starts.

Cease was lifted from Wednesday’s dominant nine-strikeout start against the Yankees with a right forearm cramp. The 29-year-old’s exit was merely out of an abundance of caution. He passed all medical tests from San Diego’s training staff and was able to play catch on Friday without any issues, which puts him on track to take the ball on Tuesday at Petco Park against the Angels.

Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters afterwards that the team didn’t want to take any chances in the moment, which is why Cease was pulled for precautionary reasons. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, finished with a season-high nine strikeouts, and allowed one run prior to leaving the contest. It sounds like there’s optimism the 29-year-old fantasy ace isn’t dealing with anything serious and that he’ll be able to make his next start on Tuesday against the Angels. There should be an additional update on his status in a couple days when he throws his usual bullpen session between starts.

Cease left with a trainer in the middle of a seventh-inning at-bat just a couple batters after serving up a game-tying solo homer to Cody Bellinger, which broke up a no-hit bid. The 29-year-old fantasy ace finished the dominant performance at hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium with a season-high nine strikeouts and only issued a pair of walks over 6 2/3 innings of work. There should be an update on his status shortly.

Cease needed 91 pitches to get through is four frames, and it’s another start where the right-hander hasn’t been able to go deep. Walks were part of the issue, as he issued three free passes and threw just 53 pitches for strikes. The first month-plus of the season has not been kind to Cease, and his ERA is now an unhealthy 5.61. It’d be risky to start him next week against the Yankees, or at least riskier than anticipated coming into 2025.