Padres' Dylan Cease Frustrated By Lost Start; When Will He Pitch Next?

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 8, 2024

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego starting pitcher Dylan Cease was frustrated after pitching one inning Tuesday, then being forced to sit out the rest of the Padres' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates due to the rain and a clogged drain.

“It seems like we shouldn’t have even really started the game if we knew that something like that was coming,” Cease said of the storm that contributed to his night ending early. “But it’s above my pay grade.”

Cease lost his start but San Diego won Tuesday’s game 6-0 with a big fifth inning and a strong bullpen. The National League's reigning Pitcher of the Month was able to see the silver lining after his start was ruined by something out of his control.

“It’s kind of like I got extra rest today,” he said.

The unfortunate series of events began when the skies darkened as Pirates starter Bailey Falter threw his warmup pitches. The rain began in the second inning, at just about the time the radar indicated it would, shortly before 7 p.m. local time.

Just 17 minutes later after the pitch, umpires halted the game.

The rain stopped around 7:45, and it was announced minutes later that the game would restart at approximately 8:15 p.m.

Cease jogged out to the mound and his teammates took the field to jog and throw the ball around but instead of resuming the game, manager Mike Shildt joined Pirates manager Derek Shelton and a pair of umpires on a walk to center field. The grounds crew was still using squeegees to get water off the warning track.

Pittsburgh was having a repeat of what happened on Sunday against Arizona where the deluge that flooded the track caused the drainage system to be overrun by dirt.

“The degree of the backup that we had out in the outfield was not something we anticipated,” Matt McKendry, MLB vice president of umpire operations, told a pool reporter after the game. “We had seen the field. We were optimistic that the grounds crew was going to be able to clear those drains out in the outfield and that the water level would go down much quicker than it actually did.”

The game officially resumed at 9:41.

Cease entered Tuesday's game having thrown 137.2 innings, seventh most in the major leagues. The Padres will stay on track with their starting rotation despite Cease's frustration.

“It’s not going to hurt,” Cease said. “I would have preferred to go deep in the game. But in the long run, it will be fine.”

Mike Shildt shared the latest on how Ha-Seong Kim is feeling, when Dylan Cease and Joe Musgrove could pitch and how he decides which left-handed hitters will sit against left-handed pitchers: pic.twitter.com/D2olcP8B6X

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) August 7, 2024

Shildt said Wednesday that he's still determining if and when Cease will pitch next, but his next start will come Friday, Saturday or Sunday in Miami.