Schlittler, Cease pitch during same series amid Cy Young Award race

TORONTO -- It’s a Cy Young showdown this weekend at Rogers Centre, Dylan Cease versus Cam Schlittler with each of their lineups trying to tear the other guy down.

The AL Cy Young Award has become a two-horse race, and if the season ended today, it’s nothing near unanimous. Schlittler is scheduled to pitch Saturday with Cease throwing in the finale on Sunday, which lines each of them up to pitch in next week’s series (Aug. 21-23) at Yankee Stadium, too.

This is where the race stands and what’s at stake over the next week:

MAKE YOUR CASE:

Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees
• 10-6, 2.21 ERA (146.2 IP)
• 4.7 WAR (FanGraphs)

The 25-year-old sensation has owned this conversation through the heart of the season, carrying a sub-two ERA into late June. This race is all about the inches, the slight advantages that add up to someone winning by a few votes. Schlittler, at first glance, has the stronger ERA and he’s done it over more innings after Cease spent two weeks on the IL with a hamstring strain.

Schlittler’s strikeout rate (11.2 K/9) is elite for a starter, and while it’s not quite at Cease’s level (13.1), he’s done this with a walk rate that is essentially half of Cease’s.

Remember, this award is voted on by 30 members of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers' Association of America) each year. Just like the MVP Award, voters value certain metrics over others, while team success can also bleed into the context. If Schlittler’s Yankees stay hot down the stretch and Cease’s Blue Jays fade, could that shift in the conversation further benefit Schlittler? Besides, he has the numbers to back up his case and is one of baseball’s most entertaining pitchers to watch.

Dylan Cease, Toronto Blue Jays
• 7-5, 2.40 ERA (131 1/3 IP)
• 4.5 WAR

Cease’s case, here and now, leans more on advanced metrics and overwhelming strikeout numbers. Those are fine arguments, too.

Even after missing a couple of starts, Cease leads the American League in strikeouts (191). Across the Majors, he trails only the strikeout king himself, Jacob Misiorowski (204). Again, we’re talking about small margins here, but Cease’s ceiling has been a few inches higher than Schlittler’s, but Schlittler has a sturdier floor.

So many of their surface-level stats are too close to call, coming down to a matter of style or preference more than anything else. Some of the advanced metrics, like FIP, favor Cease slightly, and if we’d like to get really fine with this argument, Cease has allowed a lower average exit velocity and fewer home runs (14 to nine).

The more we dig, though, the more we see how close these pitchers are, neither of them with one truly undeniable number that overshadows the rest.

SOME HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS?

Schlittler has handled the Blue Jays just fine this season, allowing just three runs over his 13 innings with 14 strikeouts. The Blue Jays were much tougher on Schlittler a year ago as a rookie, including a start in early September when they chased him after just 1 2/3 innings, but we haven’t seen that version of the Blue Jays much this season.

Cease has faced the Yankees just once in 2026, allowing two runs over four innings of work. With four walks and nine strikeouts, that was a classic Cease outing, flashing dominant stuff but not nearly efficient enough. That’s the blueprint to beating Cease, and while we’re only working with a one-day sample size here, the Yankees have at least pulled it off.

Still, the margins are so tight. If one lineup can hang five runs on the opposing starter and flip the ERA race here, that could go a long way.

TEAM HISTORY

Wouldn’t you have guessed the Yankees had a bigger edge than six Cy Young Awards to the Blue Jays’ five? They’re connected by Roger Clemens, too, who won with each organization.

The Yankees have 25 MVP Awards in their franchise’s deep history, and you may have heard they’ve won the World Series 27 times, but the Cy Young has been more elusive.

Yankees: Gerrit Cole (2003), Roger Clemens (2001), Ron Guidry (1978), Sparkly Lyle (1977), Whitey Ford (1961), Bob Turley (1958)

Blue Jays: Robbie Ray (2021), Roy Halladay (2003), Roger Clemens (1997-’98), Pat Hentgen (1996)