SAN DIEGO -- Dylan Cease essentially replaced a Cy Young Award winner in the Padres’ pitching rotation. No sweat.

Cease has Cy Young stuff himself, and it was on display Wednesday afternoon in the Padres’ 10-2 victory in the series finale against the Cubs at Petco Park. Cease ensured his new team’s first series victory of 2024 by tossing six innings without allowing an earned run.

As with the man he replaced, Blake Snell, Cease sometimes has stat lines that don’t impress as much as his stuff, because of long at-bats and too many walks driving up pitch counts. But when the stuff and the stats sync up, batters have little hope.

Such was the case against the Cubs.

“He’s nasty,” catcher Luis Campusano said.

Cease struck out seven and allowed two hits and two walks. Two unearned runs scored when Cease hung a slider to Michael Busch in the fourth inning after a two-out error by shortstop Ha-Seong Kim.

As for the stuff, oh my.

Cease, acquired from the White Sox in a blockbuster trade in March, averaged 97.2 mph with his four-seam fastball and maxed out at 99.6 mph. He hadn’t thrown a pitch that fast since June 26, 2022. (No coincidence, that was the year Cease finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting.)

But it was Cease’s slider that truly befuddled the Cubs. It induced eight swing and misses, per Statcast.

“You get the privilege of being able to watch Major League Baseball games from the side, and you get a chance to see the amazing talent these guys have,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “You look at a guy like Dylan Cease, and you’re just like, ‘Whoa.’ The fastball just jumps. And the slider’s got late break, and it’s got depth. Clearly, it’s a filthy pitch.”

Cease’s frenetic move from the White Sox to the Padres (via South Korea) has been documented. With three regular-season starts now under his belt, he has settled into his routine again.

“We’ve had a couple weeks post-Korea now to build up again,” Cease said. “I think it’s all clicking. … I feel like I’m getting stronger every time out.”

Said Campusano: “He’s got good stuff, man. Very easy to work with. He’s very easy to navigate through a game, and he’s doing a good job of mixing his pitches.”

For the Padres, Cease’s biggest stat on Wednesday probably was the six innings. He got deep into the game after the team’s other two frontline starters had short outings. Yu Darvish lasted only three innings in the series opener, and Joe Musgrove went four innings on Tuesday, plus four batters in the fifth.

After Cease’s work, the Padres’ offense kept widening the margin, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth. That saved the bullpen and prevented many high-stress pitches. Which can only help with an off-day on Thursday ahead of a daunting weekend series against the fully loaded Dodgers.

“You’re only going to be as strong as the depth of your starting pitching consistently,” Shildt said. “For him to go grab six was important.”

There was one other benefit to pitching deep with a lead. Cease was able to break out his favorite toy -- a sloooooow changeup. With Christopher Morel batting in the sixth, Cease started the at-bat with a 96.4 mph four-seam fastball. The next pitch was a 63.4 mph changeup. Alas, it was a ball, well wide of the strike zone.

The 33 mph difference between the pitches was the largest on consecutive deliveries by a regular pitcher -- excluding position players on the mound -- in the Majors this year.

“Just throwing another wrinkle in there,” Cease said. “I think it kind of sets up some pitches well. The more they have to focus on different things, the better for me.”

And the better for the Padres.