Dylan Cease officially got into a game for the first time as a Toronto Blue Jay Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies in Dunedin, Fla.

The Jays’ biggest off-season signing turned in 1.2 innings and allowed one earned run on a solo home run by Bryan De La Cruz. Cease struck out three and allowed just the one hit with one walk while throwing 33 pitches. His fastball averaged 97.4 miles an hour, reaching as high as 98.9, according to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon.

Chatted with Dylan Cease last week and he said his velo was already there. His spring priorities are just checking every other box.

In his first #BlueJays outing today his fastball averaged 97.4 and he touched 98.9. He used 5 pitches, but no sign of a new changeup

— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) February 28, 2026

Two of his strikeouts came against Phillies stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in the first inning.

The 30-year-old joined the Blue Jays on a seven-year, $210 million contract early in the off-season. He spent the last two seasons in San Diego with the Padres, going 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 168.0 innings spread out over 32 starts. He struck out 215 hitters, marking the fifth season in a row he’s turned in at least 200 punch outs.

A native of Milton, Ga., Cease spent his first five MLB seasons with the Chicago White Sox, highlighted by a 2022 campaign where he finished second in American League Cy Young voting with a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 32 starts.

The seven-year veteran owns a career regular-season ERA of 3.88 in 188 outings, all of them starts.

Berrios Shines

Righty Jose Berrios turned in four scoreless innings against the New York Yankees in Tampa Saturday afternoon.

He allowed zero hits, walked two and struck out two in his four frames, throwing 30 of his 54 pitches for strikes and holding in a check a strong Yankees lineup that included Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham.

Berrios was touched up for two runs in 2.2 innings in his first spring outing earlier this week.

The 31-year-old is looking to rebound after having the tail end of his 2025 season cut short due to an elbow issue that caused him to miss the team’s postseason run. He had a 4.17 ERA in 31 appearances for Toronto, 30 of them starts.