Why Dylan Cease Didn't Win AL Cy Young Over Cam Schlittler

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Dylan Cease Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays paid Dylan Cease a lot of money last offseason hoping that they’d land one of the best pitchers in the American League.

That’s exactly what they got. Cease, on the first year of his seven-year, $210 million contract, will officially go down in the 2026 history books as the AL’s second-best pitcher.

The AL Cy Young Award was awarded on Wednesday night, and it was won by New York Yankees ace Cam Schlittler.

Cease finished second place in the voting.

It was a close race for most of the season, but it was Schlittler who came out ahead in the end.

Why Didn’t Dylan Cease Win Cy Young?

Toronto Blue Jays v Milwaukee Brewers — GettyMILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – APRIL 15: Dylan Cease #84 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at American Family Field on April 15, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

In the end, Dylan Cease didn’t have quite as good a season as Cam Schlittler.

Schlittler put up a 1.95 ERA, compared to Cease’s 2.38 ERA.

And while Cease missed a little time with injuries, Schlittler didn’t. The Yankees star pitched 193.2 innings, while Cease threw 169.0.

Cease did strike out the same number of batters in fewer innings, but Schlittler walked 29 fewer guys than Cease.

On Baseball Reference, Schlittler outdid Cease in Wins Above Replacement, 7.0 to 5.6.

Finishing second for Cease to the type of season Schlittler had isn’t a shame at all. It was just tough competition.

AL Cy Young Voting Results

American League Wild Card Series: Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees - Game One — GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 29: Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees listens for a pitch against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning in game one of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 29, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

This is how the voting results worked out for the AL Cy Young Award:

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Points
Cam Schlittler (Yankees)	30	0	0	0	0	210
Dylan Cease (Blue Jays)	0	22	6	2	0	110
Parker Messick (Guardians)	0	7	12	9	2	84
Drew Rasmussen (Rays)	0	1	12	15	2	72
Sonny Gray (Red Sox)	0	0	0	3	15	21
Reid Detmers (Angels)	0	0	0	1	7	9
Cade Smith (Guardians)	0	0	0	0	2	2
Bryan Baker (Rays)	0	0	0	0	1	1
Michael Wacha (Royals)	0	0	0	0	1	1

As you can see, Cease was the heavy favorite to place second. But Schlittler was the unanimous choice in first place.

The disappointing part of this in Toronto is that Cease was so good, yet the rest of the team wasn’t close to good enough to even get to the playoffs.

The Blue Jays added Cease to a team that went to Game 7 of the World Series, had him finish in second place in the Cy Young voting, and still didn’t make the postseason. That’s a painful irony.