PHILADELPHIA – The Toronto Blue Jays had a vision for Dylan Cease when they signed him to a $210-million, seven-year deal over the winter, and he’s living it in a Cy-Young-Award-calibre season.

“I feel more versatile now,” said the ace right-hander, who in his last six starts has allowed just four earned runs on 17 hits and 12 walks with 56 strikeouts in 43 innings. “I feel like I’m mixing in more variety of pitches and I feel I'm getting them to better spots, too. Some days in the past, it would really just be very slider, fastball heavy and if I didn't have one or the other, it would be a massive grind. Now I can mix in a first-pitch curveball and go to sweeper and go to sinker, things I haven't historically done very well in the past. That's helping me just diversify my pitches and be less predictable.”

The way the Blue Jays and Cease worked together to refine his game isn’t a direct template for the club to follow with newly acquired Jose Soriano, who debuted by allowing two runs, one earned, over 4.2 innings in Friday’s 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. But there are parallels in the way the club is aiming to take a pitcher with an elite repertoire and help push him to an even higher level of performance.

“Tremendous stuff, they both can spin the ball, both have tremendous fastballs, their numbers, the one thing that stands out is always the walks,” said pitching coach........

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