How Blue Jays' Dylan Cease could win AL Cy Young over Yankees' Cam Schlittler

The Toronto Blue Jays might not be in a postseason spot as July begins, but they still have time to climb back into position with a very weak AL Wild Card field that's wide-open.

But, despite the overall struggles, the Blue Jays have been getting some incredible production from individuals. Most notably, Dylan Cease just had an incredible June and is now entering some very interesting conversations.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle identified Cease as a pitcher to watch in the AL Cy Young race, and for good reason. Cease can win this award thanks to his recent resurgence, the struggles of the rest of the field, and his incredibly high strikeout rates.

How Dylan Cease can win AL Cy Young for Blue Jays

"Cease has been one of the AL's most dominant starters, leading the league in strikeouts (128) while fanning a career-best 13.8 batters per nine innings," Doolittle writes. "... Things appear to be coming together for Cease in his first season with the Blue Jays, and he seems poised for a big second half. He'll be in the AL Cy Young mix."

Cease currently places sixth on ESPN's AL Cy Young tracker mid-way through the year, behind Louis Varland, Drew Rasmussen, Parker Messick, Davis Martin, and Cam Schlittler.

The young New York Yankees righty, Schlittler, is the current favorite. But, after a rough start recently, it's possible the Yankees starter might fall out of his top Cy Young contention spot this season.

Schlittler has a 2.08 ERA and 3.5 bWAR on the season, so he's still the favorite, and well ahead of Cease, who has a 3.02 ERA and 2.5 bWAR on the season.

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But, since Cease has been hot recently, and Schlittler has struggled a bit, it's possible that Cease could begin to make up some ground in the second half of 2026.

To do so, not only will Cease have to keep up his elite strikeout rate of 13.8 strikeouts per-nine, but he will also need to pitch deeper into games and add more innings to his season totals.

Cease has 83.1 innings in 15 starts this season. Schlittler has 104 innings in 18 starts, so Cease has a lot of ground to make up to bridge the gap between him and the leader in the clubhouse for the AL Cy Young award.

But, if the recent trends continue, and Cease stays hot, while Schlittler falters, Cease does have a real chance to win the AL Cy Young Award, assuming some other pitcher in the AL doesn't also finish the year very strong.

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