First-Ever IL Stint For Iron Man Blue Jays Pitcher Dylan Cease

And the hits just keep on coming for the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation. Dylan Cease has hit the injured list and becomes, incredibly, the SEVENTH starting pitcher on the team to be hit with the injury bug this season.

News: Dylan Cease is going to be placed on the 15-day IL (left hamstring) #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) May 25, 2026

It's a left hamstring strain, and he will go on the 15-day IL.

Cease left his Saturday start against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning due to what was being called mild left hamstring discomfort. He was seen shaking out his leg after a pitch during an at-bat by former Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz.

Dylan Cease has left the game following this pitch in the 5th inning. pic.twitter.com/iasOT8zn6a
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) May 24, 2026

Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, Jose Berrios, Max Scherzer and Bowden Francis have all spent time on the IL this season for the Jays, with Ponce, Berrios and Francis out done for the entire year.

But Cease going on the IL is even more off the charts, as he will be getting a full IL stint for the first time in his eight-year career. The only other time the iron man right-hander has even been considered for the injured list was back in 2021, when he was placed on COVID-19 IL in April. Not really an actual IL in the sense of the term as we know it, and he was activated just two days later and did not miss a start.

Cease has made at least 32 starts in each of the past five seasons, and the last time he missed one was in his rookie campaign in 2019. He leads MLB with 185 games started since 2020.

'Mild' hamstring strain for Dylan Cease considered not too serious

Fortunately, this doesn't sound too serious at all, as manager John Schneider called it a "mild" strain.

“Mild being the key word,” Schneider said. “Hopefully it’s not too long. “He was encouraged with how he felt after the MRI showed just a mild-to-moderate strain.”

Cease leads the majors in strikeouts this season, with 92 in just 62 innings, for a league-leading 13.4 K/9. He has a 3.05 ERA, and so far has been worth every penny of the massive free agent contract the Jays signed him to in the offseason, a 7-year, $210 million deal.