Blue Jays lose Cease to IL with left hamstring strain

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays placed star right-hander Dylan Cease on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain on Monday, yet another injury in a season that’s been defined by them.

Cease left his start Sunday against the Pirates with mild left hamstring discomfort. It looked like Cease initially tweaked his hamstring, but after deciding to stay in the game, the right-hander lasted just a few more pitches before the Blue Jays’ trainers were jogging out of the dugout again. Now, they’ll be without Cease for at least the next 15 days.

“Mild is the key word, I think, so hopefully it’s not too long,” manager John Schneider said. “He was encouraged with how he felt after the MRI showed just a mild-to-moderate strain.”

The IL is unfamiliar territory for Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million deal to join the Blue Jays this past offseason. He’s made at least 32 starts in each of the past five seasons, even hitting peaks of 33 starts in 2023-24. He’s been off to a great start in Toronto, too, with a 3.05 ERA and a whopping 92 strikeouts over 62 innings.

“He wants to pitch. I think he’s being smart about it, too,” Schneider said. “The risk-reward of losing him for a long time as opposed to two [starts] kind of outweighed that.”

There’s never a good time to lose a pitcher with true Cy Young talent, but this is particularly cruel timing for the Blue Jays. This rotation is already operating without José Berríos and Cody Ponce for the rest of the season. Max Scherzer is still a couple of weeks away as he begins to ramp up from forearm and ankle injuries while Shane Bieber, who made his first official rehab start Monday, may still need another month until he’s all the way back.

In the meantime, the Blue Jays have called up 30-year-old Tanner Andrews from Triple-A Buffalo. Over 16 appearances and 20 innings in Triple-A, Andrews owns a 1.35 ERA. After eight seasons in the Minor Leagues between the Marlins, Giants, Twins and Blue Jays organizations, this would be Andrews’ MLB debut.

The Blue Jays are already operating with what is essentially a bullpen day as their No. 5 starter, and if it weren’t for Patrick Corbin stepping in and settling the No. 4 job, they’d be in even worse shape. Even as Schneider laid out his rotation for the rest of this Marlins series, Schneider listed Trey Yesavage on Monday, then “some combination of Spencer [Miles] and something” for Tuesday’s game. Miles has been spectacular, but this is nowhere near Plan A.

This is why the Blue Jays eventually want to occupy Cease’s rotation spot with a more traditional “starting” option. Their bullpen, particularly the core back-end arms, has already taken on a heavy workload this season, so the relievers can’t be pushed any harder than they already have been. Andrews can help with that in the short term, and by the time Cease’s rotation spot comes back up, someone like Chad Dallas, CJ Van Eyk, Josh Fleming or Austin Voth could be an option, among others.

“It would be tough to run those [bullpen] games two out of three days, really, so we’re looking for someone to do the heavy lifting,” Schneider said.

From here, the Blue Jays should have a better sense of Cease’s timeline a week from now, midway through the 15-day minimum. Cease does rely heavily on his lower body, “sitting” in his delivery before exploding down the mound, so it’s crucial for him to be strong and healthy in his lower half.