Dylan Cease Bio
Dylan Edward Cease is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed starter known for his high velocity and strikeout ability, Cease has built his career with the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays since his MLB debut in 2019. He earned All-MLB Second Team honors in 2022 and threw a no-hitter for the Padres in 2024. In December 2025, he signed a seven-year contract with the Blue Jays that set a new franchise record for a free agent deal.
Born and raised in Milton, Georgia, Cease comes from a family with deep baseball roots, including relatives who played professional ball in the mid-twentieth century. After a decorated high school career, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2014 and developed through the minor leagues before becoming a frontline big league starter.
Early Life and Background
Dylan Edward Cease was born on December 28, 1995, in Milton, Georgia, a suburb north of Atlanta within the Metro Atlanta area. He was raised in a household with a strong baseball background. His father, Jeff Cease, played high school football, while his paternal grandmother, Betty Cease, was a professional baseball player in the late 1940s. His paternal uncle, Bruce Cease, was selected by the Washington Senators in the 1971 MLB draft and played as a first baseman in the minor leagues for the Geneva Senators and Cocoa Astros during the 1971 and 1972 seasons.
Cease began playing baseball at the age of four alongside his fraternal twin brother, Alec, who is one minute younger. Their father, Jeff, coached the teams they played on throughout their youth, and both brothers traveled extensively across the state of Georgia to participate in baseball competitions. Growing up, Cease was an Atlanta Braves fan, and his family held season tickets at Turner Field, where he watched many games live. He particularly admired Braves Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and John Smoltz, as well as Alex Rodriguez.
Path to Baseball
Cease attended Milton High School in Milton, Georgia, graduating in 2014. He played for the school’s baseball team, the Milton Eagles, and wore the No. 7 jersey as a tribute to Mickey Mantle. Serving as the team’s ace pitcher, Cease was recognized for his ability to generate significant velocity while exerting minimal effort. His pitching arsenal featured a power fastball that averaged between 91 and 95 miles per hour with a peak velocity of 97 mph, a curveball, and a changeup. Outside of school, he competed with Team Elite, a nationally ranked travel baseball program based in Winder, Georgia.
During his junior season, Cease led the Eagles to the 2013 GHSA Class 6A State Baseball Championship, the highest level of high school baseball competition in Georgia. He started Game 2 of the best-of-three series and recorded 12 strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched during a 5-3 win over the Roswell Hornets, helping force a decisive Game 3, which the Eagles won 2-1 to claim the state title. That summer, he participated in the 2013 Perfect Game National Showcase, where he threw a 97 mph fastball, ranking him in the 99.96th percentile of prospects in his class. He was also selected for the 2013 Perfect Game All-American Classic and the 2013 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game.
Dylan Cease Career
Early Career (2014-2018)
Cease was selected 169th overall by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft on June 6, 2014, directly out of high school. Although he had been projected as a first-round pick, his draft position fell due to an elbow injury sustained during his senior season. He signed with the Cubs on July 4 for a $1.5 million signing bonus, the fourth-highest ever awarded to a sixth-round pick. Later that month, on July 22, Cease underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Following a successful recovery, he resumed throwing in May 2015 and made his professional debut with the Rookie-level AZL Cubs.
Cease moved quickly through the Cubs system, reaching Short-Season A Eugene in 2016 and earning Northwest League Post-Season All-Star honors. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox on July 13, 2017, as part of the package that sent José Quintana to the Cubs, and was assigned to the Single-A Kannapolis Intimidators. In 2018, Cease starred at High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, finishing the year with a combined 12-2 record, a 2.40 ERA, and 160 strikeouts in 124.0 innings pitched across 23 starts. He was selected to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game and was named MLB Pipeline Pitcher of the Year before being added to the White Sox 40-man roster.
Chicago White Sox (2019-2023)
Cease made his Major League Baseball debut on July 3, 2019, starting for the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. He allowed four hits, four walks, and three runs with six strikeouts in 5.0 innings, earning the win in a 7-5 victory. He finished 2019 with a 4-7 record and a 5.79 ERA, but his 9.99 strikeouts per nine innings set a White Sox franchise record for a rookie with a minimum of 10 starts, and his fastball averaged 96.6 mph with a peak of 100.1 mph.
Cease made a major leap in 2021, finishing with a 13-7 record, a 3.91 ERA, and 226 strikeouts in 165+2/3 innings pitched across 32 starts. He led the American League with 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings and made his first postseason start on October 10, 2021, in Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. The following season was his finest. Cease won back-to-back AL Pitcher of the Month Awards in June and July 2022 and carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on September 3 before settling for a one-hit complete game shutout. He finished 2022 with a 14-8 record, a 2.20 ERA, and 227 strikeouts in 184.0 innings, was named to the All-MLB Second Team, and finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind Justin Verlander.
San Diego Padres (2024-2025)
Prior to the start of the 2024 MLB season, the Chicago White Sox traded Cease to the San Diego Padres on March 13, 2024, in exchange for Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, Samuel Zavala, and Steven Wilson. He quickly became a cornerstone of the Padres rotation, throwing his first career no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals on July 25, 2024. Cease allowed three walks with nine strikeouts, throwing 71 of his 114 pitches for strikes. The no-hitter was the second in Padres franchise history, following Joe Musgrove’s gem in 2021. He finished 2024 with a 14-11 record, a 3.47 ERA, and 224 strikeouts in 189+1/3 innings pitched across 33 starts, tied for the most in MLB.
Cease continued his heavy workload in 2025, striking out Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies on September 13 to record his 200th strikeout of the season. That feat marked his fifth consecutive 200-strikeout season and made him only the fifth active pitcher with at least five straight 200-strikeout seasons, joining Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer. He finished 2025 with an 8-12 record, a 4.55 ERA, and 215 strikeouts in 168.0 innings pitched across 32 starts, leading MLB with 11.52 strikeouts per nine innings. After the season, he became a free agent.
Toronto Blue Jays Era (2026-Present)
On December 2, 2025, Cease signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. At the time of signing, it was the largest free agent contract in Blue Jays history, surpassing the six-year, $150 million deal signed by George Springer on January 23, 2021. His Blue Jays debut produced a no decision, but he set a franchise record with 12 strikeouts, the most by a pitcher in his team debut, breaking the previous mark of 11 set by David Price in 2015. Cease wears the No. 84 jersey with Toronto as a tribute to the 84 classic asanas in the yoga tradition.
Driving Style and Strengths
Cease is a power pitcher who relies on a four-seam fastball that consistently sits in the upper 90s and a hard slider that he threw more than 42 percent of the time in 2022, the highest rate in MLB. He complements those pitches with a curveball and a slower changeup, the latter of which has ranked among the slowest in the majors. His ability to miss bats, paired with high strikeout totals, has been the defining feature of his career.
Notable Events and Milestones
Cease’s career milestones include back-to-back American League Pitcher of the Month Awards in 2022, an All-MLB Second Team selection, a runner-up finish in the AL Cy Young Award voting, and a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals on July 25, 2024, the second in Padres franchise history. In 2025, he joined a select group of pitchers with five straight 200-strikeout seasons and set a Blue Jays record with 12 strikeouts in his team debut.
Dylan Cease Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Cease comes from a family with a long baseball history. His paternal grandmother, Betty Cease, was a professional baseball player in the late 1940s, and his paternal uncle, Bruce Cease, was drafted by the Washington Senators in 1971 and played minor league ball in the early 1970s. His father, Jeff Cease, played high school football and coached both Dylan and his fraternal twin brother, Alec, on their youth baseball teams. The family, of Jewish descent through his father, nurtured the twins’ early love of the game.
Personal Life
Cease is of Jewish descent through his father. He is an amateur disc golfer who partnered with six-time PDGA World Champion Paul McBeth to purchase two properties that will feature disc golf courses. Cease also practices mindfulness and credits the No. 84 jersey he wears in Toronto to the 84 classic asanas in the yoga tradition and to his favorite yogi, Sadhguru.
2025 Season Performance
Dylan Edward Cease’s 2025 season was defined by both his durability and his dominance in the strikeout department. Pitching for the San Diego Padres, he logged 32 starts and 168.0 innings while fanning 215 batters, leading all of Major League Baseball with an 11.52 strikeouts per nine innings rate. His 8-12 win-loss record did not reflect his individual performance, as run support was inconsistent throughout the year. Still, Cease ranked among the league’s elite power arms and remained a reliable workhorse at the top of the Padres rotation.
His most memorable milestone came on September 13, 2025, when he struck out Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning to record his 200th strikeout of the season. That out gave him five straight 200-strikeout seasons, a rare feat that placed him alongside Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer as the only active pitchers to accomplish it. He also joined Jake Peavy as the only Padres pitchers to post consecutive 200-strikeout seasons.
Cease finished 2025 with a 4.55 ERA across 168.0 innings pitched and 32 starts, showing that the late-career dip in his win-loss record was largely a function of his environment rather than a decline in stuff. After the season, he hit free agency for the first time in his career, setting the stage for his record-setting agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays in early December 2025.
