Dylan Cease DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease allowed nine hits and nine earned runs over four innings pitched in Tuesday's 10-4 road loss to the Athletics. The 29-year-old struck out four and handed out three free passes, falling to 1-1 on the season. Most of the damage against him came in the first inning, as the A's nickeled and dimed him with singles and doubles en route to six runs. Cease settled in for an inning or so after that, but another three-run Oakland outburst in the third put the Padres down 9-4, and they could never regain any ground. The former sixth-round pick holds a bloated 7.98 ERA and 1.57 WHIP through three starts (14 2/3 innings) with an 18:6 K:BB. Cease pitched well in his first two starts and he'll look for better results in his next one, which is tentatively slated for the following Monday at home against the Cubs.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease earned his first win of the season with a strong outing on Wednesday afternoon, holding the Guardians to one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings at Petco Park. Cease picked up seven strikeouts and had a shutout going before running into trouble in the seventh. The bullpen finished the job, though, and the Padres held on for the 5-2 victory to complete the sweep and improve to an impressive 7-0. For Cease, it was a nice bounce-back outing after giving up three runs and only lasting 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the season against the Braves. He was back in his ace form on Wednesday and will look to keep rolling in his next start, which is scheduled for next Tuesday against the Athletics in hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reports that the San Diego Padres are unlikely to trade right-hander Dylan Cease before the start of the 2025 season, despite the fact that he's scheduled to be a free agent after this year. "I just do not think we are going to see a Dylan Cease trade that rescues the Yankees season," Morosi said in response to the fact that Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (elbow) will have season-ending Tommy John surgery. Not only are the Yankees hesitant to add to their payroll at the moment, but they would also be hesitant to give up top prospects such as Jasson Dominguez and Will Warren, who they will be counting on at the major-league level in 2025. The Padres could change their tune on Cease closer to this summer's trade deadline if the Padres are well out of contention, but for now, he appears primed to continue on as SD's ace. Cease's strikeout upside makes him a low-end No. 1/high-end No. 2 fantasy starter.