Toronto Blue Jays' Cease is injured and could miss rest of season

The bad news just keeps on coming for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

With just a week left in the 2026 season and the team's playoff chances fading quickly, another important player has gone down with an injury at the worst possible moment. 

Pitcher Dylan Cease, who is in the AL Cy Young conversation, has been Toronto's best player this season and among the very best pitchers in the entire league. He is a large part of why the Blue Jays are even in the playoff hunt this far into the season, but he may not be able to help them the rest of the way. 

Sportsnet's Hazel Mae reported on Sunday that Cease received an MRI in Toronto on Saturday, and he will be missing his next scheduled start on Wednesday. 

"Dylan Cease is in Toronto and got an MRI on his shoulder last night," Mae reported. "Cease will not start on Wednesday. He will meet the team in Baltimore.

"John Schneider is not ruling out start vs. Reds. Cease said the shoulder felt 'fatigued.'" 

NEWS: Dylan Cease is in Toronto and got an MRI on his shoulder last night

Cease will not start Wednesday. He will meet team in Baltimore.

John Schneider not ruling out start vs Reds.

Cease said the shoulder felt “fatigued.”

— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) September 20, 2026

With Cease missing the series against the Orioles, and a start against the Cincinnati Reds in the final series of the season up in the air, it's possible that Cease could miss the remainder of the schedule. 

The 30-year-old has been lights out in his first season with the Blue Jays, posting a 2.40 ERA through 29 starts, which ranks fourth in the major leagues. His 239 strikeouts are only beaten by Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, who is sitting at 243.  

Cease, however, did struggle in his last outing against the Texas Rangers, allowing four runs on three hits, walking a season-high six batters, while throwing 74 pitches in just 2.2 innings en route to a 7-1 loss on Friday. 

The Jays have just seven games left on their schedule as of Sunday morning and are currently three games back of the Chicago White Sox for the final AL wildcard spot. In order to snag that final spot, Toronto will need to string together a winning streak to end the season and hope the teams ahead of them falter in the final stretch. 

That doesn't seem likely at the moment, as FanGraphs is giving the Blue Jays a measly 4.4 per cent chance at making the postseason.