John Schneider announced Dylan Cease will start Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies and Max Scherzer will start Wednesday as the Blue Jays adjust their pitching plans to bring both back from injury-related setbacks.
Dylan Cease is scheduled to take the mound on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, and Max Scherzer is set for a Wednesday start—moves the Blue Jays are making as they wind down the stretch of using a three-man rotation and piling up bullpen days.
Manager John Schneider made the call Monday, laying out a rotation that has been constantly shifting while Cease, Scherzer and Shane Bieber work their way back. For the Blue Jays, this week marks the first clear step toward steadier starting pitching again.
Cease’s path back has been anything but smooth. He suffered a hamstring injury in a start on May 24, then pitched one rehab outing with triple-A Buffalo last week. The results weren’t what anyone wanted—he struggled, allowing five runs, including two home runs, in four innings.
Still, Cease’s track record with Toronto provides a reason for the faith behind the decision. In 11 starts for the Blue Jays, he is 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 92 strikeouts.
Scherzer’s return comes with its own timeline and its own checkered history this season. He has made five starts for the Blue Jays so far, with his last appearance coming on April 24. At that time. he was shut down with right forearm tendinitis. though he also took time during his IL stint to recover from left ankle inflammation.
The 41-year-old then completed two rehab starts with Buffalo. In his most recent outing last Friday, he struck out five in 3.2 innings.
After that start, Scherzer described the kind of session the organization needed—more than just counting outs. “Good outing to get all pitches going, get attacking, sequencing, all the things. Get in some jams, pitch out of the stretch,” he said. “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.”.
His return also carries a milestone edge. Scherzer is one strikeout away from becoming the 11th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,500 punchouts.
The Blue Jays will have to rearrange their internal schedule to make room for both starters. Trey Yesavage will be pushed back and will make his next start Friday against the New York Yankees. Rookie Spencer Miles, who has been stretched out to cover innings in recent weeks, will return to a bullpen role.
Dylan Cease Max Scherzer Toronto Blue Jays Philadelphia Phillies New York Yankees Shane Bieber Trey Yesavage Spencer Miles triple-A Buffalo MLB rotation
Scherzer back already? dude was basically done like a month ago…
Cease giving up 5 runs in rehab sounds not great though. But I guess Toronto knows what they’re doing? Three-man rotation was weird to me anyway.
Wait so they’re “winding down the stretch of a three-man rotation” but also moving guys around to pile up bullpen days? That’s like the same thing lol. Also is Scherzer really one K away from 3500 like they said or is that just stats padding?
I don’t get why they shut him down in April with tendinitis and then bring him back mid-week like nothing happened. Hamstring, forearm, ankle… sounds like injuries stacking up to me. But okay, go strike out all the Phillies I guess.