The San Diego Padres are a game out of the NL Wild Card, a little over halfway through the 2025 season. One of the reasons for the Padres being on the outside looking in has been the early-season struggles from Dylan Cease.
In an article from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune, Cease commented on his struggles in 2025 and took full accountability for his lackluster performances this season.
“I don’t feel like I’m giving us any sort of a chance to win with the consistency as I’d like to,” Cease said. “But I’m just going to take it day-by-day, keep working, and try to get in a rhythm as best as I can. I mean, I’ve shown flashes, but it’s really just consistency right now. There really is a lot of season left to make it up.”
The struggles in 2025 for Cease have culminated in a 4.53 ERA and a 3-7 record through his first 17 starts of the season. Cease, in 91.1 innings pitched, has allowed ten home runs and 36 walks while striking out 117 batters.
He still has his strikeout stuff and has a solid strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he’s just not executing. However, one of the more interesting facets of his game this year is the difference between his ERA and his FIP.
FIP measures a pitcher’s effectiveness when only taking into account walks, strikeouts, home runs, and hit by pitches. Meaning, if fielding wasn’t an issue. His FIP is 3.23, 1.30 lower than his ERA on the season.
Whether it’s due to being unlucky or poor defense, Cease’s numbers aren’t bad on the surface. That’s why, despite his struggles, Cease’s comments that he’s shown flashes aren’t questionable.
Cease has half a season to go, and he can make up for his early-season struggles with a strong second-half campaign. He’s not shying away from his struggles, and if he gets a little more luck and gets more consistent, Cease could be looking at a strong finish to the 2025 season.
