DUNEDIN, Fla. — John Schneider’s first interaction with Dylan Cease this past off-season was during a Zoom call. As the Toronto Blue Jays manager attempted to recruit arguably the top free-agent starting pitcher, he quickly noticed that Cease carried a thirst for knowledge.
“Really curious for new information, ways to get better, and understanding what works for him and what doesn’t,” Schneider said.
That constant search has led Cease to incorporate a new tweak into his delivery this spring that the right-hander hopes will help correct an issue that’s bothered him throughout his big-league career.
Cease’s immense talent has been evident since he broke into the majors with the Chicago White Sox. He quickly established himself as one of the premier power pitchers in the game and, to that point, his 1,150 strikeouts since 2020 lead all MLB hurlers. Conversely, though, his 395 walks over that span also leads all pitchers.
Such disparity has contributed to a large variance in his production. Consider these numbers over his past four seasons:
However, despite all that, the Blue Jays believed in Cease enough to hand him a seven-year, $210-million contract that stands as the richest free-agent deal in franchise history.
The task now for both parties is to get the best out of Cease and the 30-year-old right-hander feels he might be onto something already. Over the past month, he’s been experimenting with his head movement during his delivery. As he raises his leg during his windup, Cease will quickly turn his face toward third base, before returning his gaze to the catcher’s target.
It’s a subtle tweak that happens in a literal blink of an eye, yet it’s a big deal for Cease.
“I just felt like when I was keeping my head on the target, I was yanking and cutting a lot,” Cease said on Tuesday following his outing against the Atlanta Braves at TD Ballpark. “So, I wanted to see what would happen if I [changed things].
“Honestly it just kind of came to me,” he added. “I was trying to visualize my body moving and how it’s supposed to feel and that was an answer that I figured out.”
Cease might have stumbled on it, but he says the change has improved his timing and allowed his body to rotate in a more natural manner. That has, in turn, resulted in more strikes.
“I definitely feel like I’m still learning it, but I feel even for it being early, I’m throwing a lot of strikes,” said Cease.
The proof was there on Tuesday as Cease looked impressive during his second Grapefruit League start of the spring. He allowed just two hits over three scoreless innings against an Atlanta lineup that was devoid of any notable Braves regulars.
The right-hander brandished a fastball that topped out at 99.2 m.p.h. and averaged 97.8 m.p.h., up from his 97.1 m.p.h. mark last year. He struck out three batters and just as encouraging was that he walked none while filling up the zone with 38 strikes on 54 pitches (70 per cent). He generated seven whiffs, including four with his slider, showing off exactly how nasty his stuff can play.
“With his kind of stuff, that’s what we want him to do,” said Schneider. “And not try to run deep. He’s going to run some deep counts cause he strikes guys out. But just today, him and [pitching coach] Pete [Walker] were talking about first-pitch strike percentage and overexaggerating where he wants to get to. So, he was shooting for like 80 per cent today, which is really, really high, obviously. But I think with his stuff, he can do that. And that’s definitely been a talking point since we acquired him.”
Cease tossed first-pitch strikes to only seven of the 12 hitters he faced, but his intent should nonetheless be encouraging for the Blue Jays. The right-hander expects to carry his new tweak with him into the regular season and says that his delivery in a good place right now.
“I really do,” said Cease. “I feel like I got a little bit more room to drive a little harder in power, but it’s early and it’s spring, so leaving [Tuesday] healthy, throwing pretty hard, I feel I’m in a good spot.”
Schneider has obviously had more opportunities to learn about Cease since their off-season virtual call and one takeaway is just how much the veteran hurler cares about his delivery.
“He talks about it all the time,” said Schneider. “Where his arm is in relation to his lower half, things like that, and what that means for his stuff. That’s what I’ve seen from him just watching him work on the side and watching him in games and things like that.
“Given his stuff, that’s the reason why he obsesses about it. When [the delivery’s] in a good place, usually the stuff takes care of itself.”
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