This version of Cease looks more like the guy we saw in 2022 and 2024 rather than the pitcher who struggled to a 4.55 ERA last year. While many of his underlying metrics from last season suggested he was a victim of bad luck, a subpar Padres fielding squad, Cease was due for some positive regression, and his early success is the byproduct of some deliberate changes.
Cease has meaningfully changed his pitch mix. He threw his fastball 42% of the time last year, and his slider 41%. This year, he’s throwing fastballs 39% of the time while his slider usage has dropped to 28%. His curveball usage, meanwhile, has remained steady at 8%.
So what’s he throwing instead? The most notable addition to his repertoire is a new changeup that he’s thrown about 9% of the time. He’s also mixed in his sweeper and sinker more often to round out what has become a five-pitch arsenal.
Cease with a dozen strikeouts through 5 innings!
🎥 Sportsnet | #Bluejays
The results speak for themselves right now. Cease’s much-improved ERA is supported by the numbers under the hood. He’s complementing his elite swing-and-miss metrics with a much-improved 55.8% groundball rate when hitters do make contact. He ranked in the 24th percentile with a 37.3% groundball rate in 2025.
Adding a competent changeup has really helped Cease against left-handed batters. They recorded a .735 OPS against him last year; they’ve recorded a paltry .550 OPS off him in a small sample size as a Blue Jay. That number will undoubtedly rise as the season progresses, yet this improvement could be sustainable given he’s got a new weapon.
Still, five innings per start is much easier to digest when those innings are elite, and they certainly have been thus far. Decreasing his slider usage in favour of his changeup has allowed Cease to get back to being the ace he was a few years ago. It may not always look easy as he grits his way through lengthy innings, but the box score will tell the ultimate story.