Toronto Blue Jays call-up has one of the best nicknames in baseball

With Toronto Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease recovering from a hamstring injury and Eric Lauer shipped to the LA Dodgers, the team needs some help for the starting rotation.

In comes right-hander Chad Dallas, who goes by one of the best baseball nicknames we've ever heard: Cheese.

According to Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling, Dallas was called up to the Blue Jays taxi squad from Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday and could make his major-league debut tonight.

Dallas is up with the Blue Jays in case he’s needed to cover innings on Thursday. He could throw as many as 80-90 pitches, per Blue Jays manager John Schneider. https://t.co/phvAiDqvoe

— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) June 3, 2026

Blue Jays manager John Schneider has named Mason Fluharty as the starter for Thursday night's game against the Atlanta Braves, but Dallas could potentially come into the game after the second or third inning as a bulk reliever.

The origin of Dallas's lactose-themed nickname came from his parents. When he was eight years-old, he would apparently imitate the howls of spray-cheese-eating Disney character Bobby Zimuruski in A Goofy Movie.

Cheese also happens to be a slang baseball term for a pitcher's fastball, so no wonder it stuck.  

Jokes aside, Dallas already loves Canada (previously visited Banff on vacation) and already has major-league-level arm velocity in his repertoire.

Dallas's fastball is up in the mid-90s, and he throws a five-pitch mix consisting of a sinker, four-seam, cutter, sweeper, and curveball.

Toronto drafted Dallas in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft, and he's been working his way through the Blue Jays minor-league system since.

Cheese to The Show! 🧀

📰 https://t.co/9KGdQCfdAh#VolsInTheShow🍊 pic.twitter.com/4VwQGSrsNM

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) June 3, 2026

This is Dallas's first season back from Tommy John surgery, and he's put up decent numbers in eight starts with Buffalo. He's recorded 34 strikeouts in 32 innings and has only given up one home run on the season.

Another fun fact about Dallas: when he was playing for the University of Tennessee in college, he studied media communications. So it's probably best he went the pro baseball route instead of coming after our newsroom jobs.