Cease (hamstring), Vlad Jr. (HBP) both exit in rough inning for Blue Jays

TORONTO -- In the span of 15 minutes, Sunday's game turned into a nightmare for the Blue Jays.

First it was Dylan Cease, who left the game with mild left hamstring discomfort in the top of the fifth. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took a fastball off the inside of his right elbow and left immediately. The early diagnosis for Guerrero is a right elbow contusion and initial X-rays have come back negative for a fracture.

In one inning, the Blue Jays’ two biggest stars walked right off the field and down the tunnel. Just when you think this organization’s injury woes couldn’t get any worse, this happens.

Guerrero’s reaction was particularly worrying. Given his stance and how aggressively he’s pitched, we’ve seen him take plenty of balls off his hands and wrists over the years, but he’s always stayed near home plate while manager John Schneider and the training staff rush out. This time, though, Guerrero turned and started walking back to the dugout. He didn’t even break stride when Schneider and the trainer met him.

The ball caught Guerrero in “a weird spot,” which led to his reaction.

“He usually doesn’t come out of a game. He’s pretty tough,” Schneider said. “I followed him and he just said, ‘I can’t feel my hand.' It was kind of like [hitting] a funny bone, but travelling at 90-plus miles an hour.”

While Guerrero wears plenty of armor on his left hand and elbow, this pitch rode up and inside, directly hitting his bare right elbow. The negative X-rays are a sigh of relief for now, and if there is no further damage to Guerrero’s elbow, this could simply be an issue of swelling and pain management in the coming days.

This still felt like another cruel twist of fate for the Blue Jays, who had just lost Cease, the new and future face of their rotation.

The Blue Jays’ training staff first came out to visit Cease in the fifth inning after he threw a curveball well inside to Spencer Horwitz. He hopped off the mound in clear discomfort and was shaking out his leg at one point, but the injury wasn’t immediately clear. Along with Schneider, the group had a long conversation with Cease, and he threw a few warmup pitches before deciding to stay in the game. Just a few pitches later, though, Cease came out of a delivery gingerly again.

That was Cease’s 76th pitch of the game, and this time, there was no conversation to be had. Cease exited the game quickly while Mason Fluharty warmed to take over. It’s encouraging that the initial diagnosis of Cease’s hamstring discomfort is “mild,” but the Blue Jays will further evaluate him in the coming days to determine whether he'll be ready to make his next start.

“When we went out the first time, he was cramping up a little bit,” Schneider said. “Then, he still kind of felt it, obviously, so we wanted to be careful. He’s going to get an MRI. All of the testing and stuff seemed pretty positive. He said he wants to make his next start, so we’ll just see how he is the next couple of days. We’re just hoping for good news.”

The Blue Jays have already dealt with a stunning number of injuries this season, particularly to their rotation. José Berríos (Tommy John surgery), Cody Ponce (ACL surgery) and Bowden Francis (Tommy John surgery) are already done for the year while Shane Bieber (elbow) is still ramping up slowly, scheduled to throw in his first rehab game Monday. Max Scherzer is on the IL, too, working his way back from forearm and ankle injuries.

This has put an incredible strain on the Blue Jays’ pitching depth, which looked like a true strength entering the season. The Blue Jays have done well patching the back end of their rotation, including signing Patrick Corbin to a one-year, $1 million deal. Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles has also been the surprise story of the season, emerging as a long reliever who is slowly morphing into a starter, but there’s no replacing Cease, the new staff ace who has flashed his dominance at times in 2026.

The Blue Jays will continue to evaluate both Cease and Guerrero. More substantial updates on each player are expected Monday, when the Blue Jays open a three-game series against the Marlins.