Dylan Cease’s adjustment is giving Blue Jays the ace Padres needed this season

The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t need to reinvent Dylan Cease. All they did was expand him. The Padres are familiar with the version that’s in Toronto. He still uses the fastball a lot, the slider hasn’t disappeared and he continues to rack up strikeouts. The difference between the one that was in San Diego is that Cease leaned on those two pitches until hitters knew what was coming. During his final season in San Diego, his four-seamer and slider accounted for 83 percent of his pitches.

The results were dodgy. He struck out 215 batters in 168 innings, but he finished with a 4.55 ERA and struggled to control too many starts. When his fastball command slipped or hitters stopped chasing the slider, he rarely had a dependable third option.

Dylan Cease’s expanded arsenal has unlocked his ace potential

Toronto made sure he used it. Cease is using his fastball and slider roughly two-thirds of the time this season. He has filled the remaining space with a changeup, sinker, knuckle curve and sweeper. The changeup has become the biggest difference, especially against left-handed hitters.

Last season, Cease threw only 37 changeups in total. They averaged 78.3 mph, and even Cease described the pitch as an unreliable trick offering. His new changeup sits in the low-to-mid 80s and is thrown with much better arm speed.

By mid-June, Cease was using it 19 percent of the time against lefties. Opponents had gone 4-for-20 in plate appearances ending with the pitch, which generated a 63 percent whiff rate.

The movement is unusual. It doesn’t dive or run like a traditional changeup. It stays up longer, almost resembling a slower fastball. With strong tunneling, that makes it difficult to identify. More importantly, it changes the entire at-bat.

Lefties can no longer build their plan around the fastball and slider. The changeup alters their timing, gives Cease another early-count option and makes his two best pitches harder to anticipate.

The results have been there.. After his most recent start, Cease owns a 2.42 ERA with 201 strikeouts in 137 2/3 innings. He became the first AL pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts this season and has now reached that mark in six consecutive years.

San Diego could have used exactly that stability. Injuries forced the Padres to spend part of the summer operating with only two traditional starters while relying on bullpen games and piggyback arrangements.

Cease’s seven-year, $210 million contract explains why Toronto has him. The lesson goes beyond the money. The Blue Jays took a pitcher with ace-level stuff and made him less predictable.

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