The Toronto Blue Jays have their first Cy Young finalist in three years.
Dylan Cease was announced as a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award on Monday by MLB and the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays also have a chance to win their first AL Reliever of the Year Award, as Louis Varland was announced as a finalist.
Cam Schlittler and Parker Messick rounded out the top-three AL Cy Young vote-getters, while Canadian Cade Smith and Rays closer Bryan Baker were the other relief finalists. The winners will be announced next week.
Cease pitched to a 2.40 ERA with 239 strikeouts and 78 walks over 169 innings in his first season with the Blue Jays.
This included two no-hit bids over the span of three games in July.
First Cease took a no-no into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants but allowed Heliot Ramos to single leading off the final inning. He pitched a complete-game one-hitter at Fenway Park 17 days later.
However, Cease threw 118 and 120 pitches in those two starts, respectively, and his fastball velocity began to decline afterwards.
His four-seam fastball averaged 97.4 m.p.h. before the July 25 complete game against the Red Sox and 95.5 m.p.h. after.
It culminated in his final outing of the season when his first pitch of the game was the slowest fastball of his career at 91.1 m.p.h. Cease's second offering registered at 90 m.p.h.
After going just 2.2 innings and walking six batters against the Texas Rangers, Cease was eventually placed on the 15-day injured list and shut down for the season due to right shoulder inflammation.
The 30-year-old right-hander signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with Toronto last off-season.
Varland, 28, was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the 2025 trade deadline and set the MLB post-season record for relief appearances during the Blue Jays' run to the World Series.
He took over Toronto's closer role from Jeff Hoffman in late April and went on to record 35 saves along with 97 strikeouts and 23 walks over 78 innings.
Varland's 1.27 ERA was the lowest among all qualified relievers.
