Dylan Cease's dominant debut season with the Toronto Blue Jays has finished with a runner-up finish in the American League Cy Young race.
New York Yankees ace Cam Schlittler took home the award on Wednesday, beating out Cease and fellow finalist Parker Messick in balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America before the post-season.
The 25-year-old won the award unanimously, earning all 30 first-place votes. Cease received 22 second-place, six third-place and two fourth-place votes.
Schlittler ended the 2026 season with the lowest ERA (1.95) and most fWAR (6.2) among qualified AL pitchers while finishing top-five in wins (14), strikeouts (239), batting average against (.182), WHIP (0.92) and home runs allowed per nine innings.
This was his first full season in the big leagues after he made his MLB debut in the summer of 2025.
He is the seventh Yankees pitcher to win a Cy Young and the first since Gerrit Cole in 2023.
“Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. "He’s shown an astonishing amount of growth since we drafted him, and his success is no accident. Cam has a tireless appetite for hard work and refinement that has allowed his talents to truly flourish. This Cy Young is richly deserved. Cam was the most dominant pitcher in our league and continues to grow into a foundational player for this franchise.”
Cease, meanwhile, pitched to a 2.40 ERA with 239 strikeouts and 78 walks over 169 innings and authored multiple no-hit bids during his first season in Toronto.
This was the second runner-up finish for Cease, who also placed second while pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2022.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider also tabbed Cease to take the ball as the starter for the American League in the 2026 Midsummer Classic, the right-hander's first All-Star Game appearance.
Cease appeared to be right in the race with Schlittler heading down the stretch, but he laboured down the stretch as his fastball velocity diminished and his numbers took a dip.
The 30-year-old was eventually placed on the injured list in late September with a shoulder injury.
Cease joined the Blue Jays on a seven-year, $210-million contract last off-season.
He joins Kevin Gausman, Alek Manoah, Robbie Ray and Hyun Jin Ryu among Blue Jays Cy Young finalists since 2020. Ray won the award in 2021.
— with files from The Associated Press
