Facial hair had been Cease’s friend for much of his run in the bigs. Known for having some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in baseball, Cease made All-MLB teams in 2022 and 2024 and also threw ...

Cease was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2022, with a 2.20 ERA across a career-high 184 innings, leading the American League with 6.4 bWAR, while his fWAR was lower at 4.4 because a good ...

Cease’s first pitch is a slider 48% of the time, and his four-seamer is thrown on the first pitch 40% of the time, so he’s mixing his stuff well. However, a few poor locations have led to damage.

Cease is arbitration-eligible this offseason, and won’t be a free agent until the conclusion of the 2025 season. He is expected to make around $8.3 million, according to projections from Spotrac.

He's gotten quite unlucky. Additionally, Cease's 30 percent strikeout rate is as high as it's been since 2022, his 8.4 percent walk rate is a career best and opponents have a .328 BABIP against him.