Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to snub the AL’s leader in earned run average as his starting pitcher for the upcoming All-Star Game.
Schneider, the manager of the AL All-Stars, announced Sunday that Dylan Cease would be tasked with starting Tuesday’s game for the American League. That choice was bound to be controversial, especially when comparing Cease with New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler.
Schlittler decided not to pitch in Tuesday’s game in order to focus on the second half of the season, taking the decision out of Schneider’s hands. Schneider, however, said Cease would have started no matter what.
“If Cam was going to pitch, my decision was still going to be Dylan,” Schneider said.
Schneider on giving Cease the AL honour:
— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) July 12, 2026
“Whenever a guy's leading the league in strikeouts in an era like right now, you got really good stuff, you're very representative of the American League. So came to that conclusion yesterday.” https://t.co/998OwQI5Ms
Cease does, in fact, lead the AL in strikeouts with 148. Schlittler is not far behind him with 137, however, and his 2.05 ERA is superior to Cease’s 2.56 mark. Schneider is within his rights to select who he wants, but that probably would have sparked some allegations of favoritism considering Cease pitches for him, while Schlittler pitches for a division rival.
Cease is having a great season. Schlittler, however, has done some things that baseball has not seen in a very long time. For Schneider’s sake, perhaps it is for the best that the decision was taken out of his hands entirely.
