Dylan Cease's shoulder injury couldn't have arrived at a much worse time for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cease will miss Toronto's crucial series against the Baltimore Orioles after experiencing shoulder fatigue during his previous start. An MRI revealed inflammation but no structural damage, leaving the Blue Jays without their ace while desperately trying to remain alive in the AL Wild Card race.

In a recent interview in collaboration with Casino.org/Canada (prior to the injury), Cease sent an honest message to his teammates amid the team's Wild Card push. Entering Tuesday, the Blue Jays are 3.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox for the third and final seed.

When asked about Toronto's rotation and the need for pitchers to step up, Cease's answer won't surprise you.

“Anyone that takes the ball, I'm hoping they step up. I really just expect effort. If you give good effort and have a good process, that's all I really care about.”

Which pitchers will rise to the occasion? Jose Soriano, Trey Yesavage, and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer.

“Soriano will step up. He's nasty,” Cease said last Friday. “He sits upper 90s with a bowling ball sinker and nasty off-speed, so every time he takes the ball, I feel really good about it.”

Trey Yesavage is stepping into important games for Toronto; here is what Cease said:

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“We trust him. He's obviously got a proven big-game track record already at such a young age. I think ultimately, he's just a talented player. I think we all believe in him. He's obviously nasty. He's got great skills. When he goes out, and he pitches and performs, it's going to give us some wind behind our sails too.”

Cease is still in awe that he is pitching alongside Scherzer, someone whose engine never stops running.

“When you're playing with Max Scherzer, you take in what he's got to say because he's been doing it for so long and is a future Hall of Famer. The biggest thing with Max is that he's on 24/7.”

“He's never not locked into the game. He's never not watching what's going on, and he's telling you his opinion, he's telling you his thoughts, and he's telling you why certain things worked or didn't work. He knows what he's doing. He's been doing it a long time. He's had a lot of success and he's making us all better pitchers in every game we play.”

It is great to see Cease praising his fellow teammates ahead of a crucial stretch of play. The Blue Jays need a lot of help to get in the postseason.

Cease was willing to “die on the battlefield” for his team.