Padres' Dylan Cease to Have Meeting With Pitching Coach Amid Struggles

Apr 14, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla (57) speaks with San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

After a brutal recent offensive stretch for the Padres, the team has dropped out of first place in the NL West and is struggling to find answers.

In a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Dylan Cease allowed two earned runs in under five innings, raising his ERA to 5.76 and indicating ongoing struggles.

“I’m going to have to sit down with (pitching coach Ruben Niebla) and come up with a plan,” Cease said, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune.

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“…It’s not necessarily something that’s far away. It’s just not quite in that good rhythm right now.”

His underlying metrics show that he is not completely lost, as his expected ERA is only 3.78, which indicates that overall he has been performing quite well, but still not at an ace level thus far.

Dylan Cease, 97mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/V19ShyUqtY

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 27, 2025

Still, he has managed to be valuable to the team, creating 0.7 WAR in only six games so far, just not reaching the high level that he is known to play at.

His fastball velocity is still on par with last year, though his ground ball rate is lower this season. He is also struggling more with his control, having a higher walk rate per nine innings.

The adjustments needed are not drastic for Dylan, though they will be necessary soon, as San Diego has been hammered with injuries over the past few weeks regarding position players. This means the team needs to rely on its pitching until the injured list decreases.

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Cease is entering a contract year, with no arbitration left. He will be a free agent for any team to pick up, and he will need to pitch better if he wants top-market money.

The Padres could still keep him if they make him a priority, though the team was restricted this past offseason with signing free agents.

For now, he remains a Padre and is the team's best pitcher when he performs at his best, which the team needs now more than ever.

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For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.