Cease Set for Tuesday Return in Phillies – Blue Jays Series
Dylan Cease is slated to start Tuesday in the phillies – blue jays series after a stint on the injured list, giving Toronto a possible boost at the front of its rotation. The Blue Jays opened the three-game set Monday with a 32-34 record and could soon have more than one arm back.
Cease Returns to Rogers Centre
Cease made one rehab start earlier this week with Triple-A Buffalo, throwing 75 pitches over four innings. That outing came after he landed on the injured list May 25 with a left hamstring strain.
Toronto pulled him from an outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates one day before the injured-list move, and John Schneider said earlier in June there was a chance Cease would need only one rehab start before rejoining the rotation. The right-hander signed a seven-year deal worth $210 million last offseason, and he had already posted a 3.05 earned-run average with 92 strikeouts over 62.0 innings through 12 starts before the injury. His 92 strikeouts led the American League when he went on the injured list.
Max Scherzer Nears His Turn
Max Scherzer is scheduled to start Wednesday's series finale against the Phillies at Rogers Centre after a rehab outing earlier this week. He has been working back from a late-April trip to the injured list with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
Scherzer appeared in five games for Toronto before he was placed on the 15-day injured list. He went 1-3 with a 9.64 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 18.2 innings.
Alejandro Kirk Still Close
Alejandro Kirk remains part of the same return picture after being out since the beginning of April with a fractured thumb suffered on a foul tip against the Chicago White Sox. Before that injury, he hit.150 with one home run in five games.
With Cease lined up for Tuesday and Scherzer set for Wednesday, Toronto is using the Phillies series as the first real test of how quickly its rotation can settle back in. If both starters take the ball as scheduled, the Blue Jays could leave Rogers Centre with a healthier staff than the one that opened the week.
