A rough season has only gotten worse for the Toronto Blue Jays after yet another injury has hit the already beleaguered rotation.
Starter Dylan Cease has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a mild left hamstring strain, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Monday.
“It doesn’t look too terrible, knock on wood,” the bench boss said. “Just trying to be smart and not have it get worse. Don’t know the exact timeline yet … hoping it’s a minimal stay.”
A corresponding move has yet to be announced as the Jays continue to talk through ways to cover for the star righty and will need someone to cover his spot for his previously scheduled start on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t in the starting lineup for Monday’s game against the Miami Marlins as he continues to deal with soreness after being hit on the inside of his right elbow Sunday.
“See how he feels as the day goes on,” the bench boss added. “But (I) didn’t want to push it with him, just in talking to him last night and today.”
Guerrero has struggled this season, hitting only three home runs and posting a .758 OPS that’s well below his career mark of .856. He reached base for a fourth consecutive game on Sunday, but has still lacked his trademark extra-base power, recording four singles and five walks over that span.
As for the injury to Cease, it occurred in Sunday’s showdown against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He exited the game in the fifth inning with an apparent injury suffered while throwing a pitch.
The hard-throwing righty received a visit on the mound from Schneider and team trainers after striking out Jared Triolo with an outside slider for the first out of the inning.
Cease, 30, appeared to be attempting to shake out his legs while he threw a few warmup pitches.
He remained in the game for one more batter, inducing a lineout from Spencer Horwitz, but was ultimately removed from the game after 4.2 innings.
Cease allowed two earned runs — on a pair of solo homers from Horwitz and O’Neal Cruz — and struck out eight.
The Blue Jays’ crown-jewel off-season signing, Cease has lived up to his seven-year, $210 million pricetag in the early goings of the season, posting a 3.05 ERA and 1.120 WHIP in 11 starts with the side. He has an MLB-leading 92 strikeouts in 62.0 innings as of Monday.
Cease hitting the IL marks yet another starting pitcher sidelined for Toronto, as Max Scherzer (forearm) and Shane Bieber (elbow) work their way back from injury, and Jose Berrios (UCL) and Cody Ponce (ACL) are set to miss the 2026 campaign with long-term issues.
