Dylan Cease’s 200-strikeout milestone reminded Cam Schlittler the Cy Young race isn’t over

Nobody in a Toronto Blue Jays' uniform has reached this milestone faster. On Sunday (Aug. 17) Dylan Cease struck out Trent Grisham to end the top of the sixth, which gave him 200 strikeouts on the year, the first pitcher in the American League to get there this season.

It's the sixth consecutive season that Cease has punched out 200 batters or more, a remarkable stretch of consistency for the 30-year-old ace of the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation. In the 50 year history of the Blue Jays only six other pitchers have reached 200 K's in a single year. Roger Clemens did it in back-to-back season's (1997 and 1998), Roy Halladay got there three times (2003, 2008, 2009), A.J. Burnett (2008), Brandon Morrow (2011), and Robbie Ray (2021) also did it once. The last Blue Jays' pitcher to do it was Kevin Gausman who reached 200 strikeouts in 2002 and 2003.

It seems fitting that he accomplished the feat against the New York Yankees. Right now, Cease would likely be the odds-on favourite to win the American League Cy Young award if it wasn't for Cam Schlittler. The 25-year-old right-hander has pitched in 26 games this season and has posted a 2.19 ERA, a 2.58 FIP, with a 4.9 fWAR. In 152 innings he's struck out batters at an 11.9 K/9 rate with 189 punch outs while holding opponents to a .194 batting average against.

According to FanGraphs, Schlittler leads the award projections race, with a 67.9 CYP mark. (Cy Young Points). In Schlittler's latest outing against the Blue Jays on Saturday, (Aug. 15) he pitched 5.1 innings, while striking out seven batters, walking three, and allowing one run on four hits. A fine outing indeed, but it wasn't good enough to give the Yankees the win.

Cease is right there behind him with a 58.9 CYP. He currently owns a 2.42 ERA, a 2.36 FIP and has accumulated 4.8 fWAR. In 137.2 innings pitched, he has a 13.14 K/9 rate with 201 strikeouts. He's also held hitters to a .177 batting average against.

The Blue Jays and Yankees on field battles could decide Wild Card outcome

Last year, the Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees in four games in the ALDS - the first playoff meeting in history between the two AL East rivals. Both teams came into the season with the expectations of once again challenging for the American League pennant, but for much of the season, only the Yankees have met those expectations.

Lately, though, the Blue Jays have been on a hot streak and are trying to salvage their season. With a 61-65 record, they are just one game back of the final Wild Card spot going into Monday night's action (Aug. 17). The Yankees are 69-55 and have an eight game lead in the Wild Card standings, but are still trying to chase down the Tampa Bay Rays who lead the AL East at 74-49.

The Blue Jays and the Yankees will meet once more this season, with a series coming up in New York this weekend (Friday, Aug. 21 - Sunday, Aug. 23) and those three games could vastly change the playoff picture. Toronto could get back to .500 by the end of that series and have a much firmer foothold in the Wild Card race. The Yankees could gain ground on the Rays and create even more space between themselves and the rest of the Wild Card teams.

It could also have the potential to match up the two Cy Young award contenders head to head in the same game. With the way Toronto's rotation is currently set up, Cease and Schlittler would get the start to open the series on Friday.

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