Toronto Blue Jays 2009 Cecil was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays on May 1, 2009, and made his major league debut on May 5 as the starting pitcher against the
Cleveland Indians at home. In that game, Cecil pitched six innings, giving up two runs, one earned, and six hits but was credited with a
no-decision in a game Toronto eventually won. His next start was May 10 against the
Oakland Athletics, pitching 8 scoreless innings to earn his first Major League win. Cecil defeated the
Chicago White Sox, keeping Toronto in first place, but then gave up five home runs to the
Boston Red Sox on May 21, losing his first game, as Toronto went on a nine-game losing streak and dropped out of first place. Cecil was returned to
AAA after losing to Boston, and then pitched solidly for the
Las Vegas 51s. Continued injury problems for Blue Jays' pitchers led to Cecil being recalled to the major leagues on June 18, and he started against the
Washington Nationals on June 20, filling in for the injured
Casey Janssen and
Roy Halladay, pitching 7 innings while allowing 3 earned runs in a no-decision, in a game Toronto lost in 12 innings.
2010 Originally not making the rotation for the Blue Jays, Cecil was called up early in the season and became a regular in the Jays rotation along with
Ricky Romero,
Shaun Marcum and
Brandon Morrow. On May 3, 2010, he took a
perfect game into the seventh inning against the
Cleveland Indians, but walked
Grady Sizemore with one out. Then, two batters later, he allowed a single to
Jhonny Peralta which scored Sizemore from second to end his
no-hitter and his
shutout. He ended up going 8
innings, allowing one
hit, two
walks, one
run, and 10
strikeouts. Despite not making the original team out of
spring training he led the team in wins with 15, along with a much improved 4.22
ERA.
2011 To start the 2011 season, Cecil went 1–2 with a 6.86 ERA, which led to the Blue Jays optioning him to Triple-A, in order to make room for
Chris Woodward on the 25-man roster. He was later recalled in late June and lost in his first start, against the
Pittsburgh Pirates. On July 24, he pitched his first complete game shutout against
Texas Rangers. Cecil finished the 2011 season with a 4–11 record and an ERA of 4.73.
2012 Cecil did not make the Blue Jays roster out of spring training, and was assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. After
Kyle Drabek was placed on the disabled list, Cecil was called up on June 15. After posting a 2–4 record with a 5.72 ERA through nine starts, Cecil was demoted to Triple-A
Las Vegas 51s on August 4.
2013 Cecil started the 2013 season in the Blue Jays bullpen. On June 19, against the
Colorado Rockies, Cecil broke the club record for facing the most consecutive batters without allowing a hit, set by
David Cone with 36. Cecil's hitless streak ended after 43 consecutive batters on June 25, against former teammate
Yunel Escobar and the
Tampa Bay Rays. On July 6, Cecil was named to the AL All-Star Team, which was special for Cecil considering the fact that it is rare for a mid relief pitcher to earn an All-Star appearance. Cecil pitched of an inning in the All-Star Game, striking out
Domonic Brown on 3 pitches. On July 31, Cecil recorded his first career
save in a 5–2 win over the
Oakland Athletics. He was placed on the disabled list on September 17, ending his 2013 campaign with a 5–1 record, 2.82 earned run average, and 70 strikeouts over 60 innings.
2014 In January 2014, Cecil filed for salary arbitration with Toronto, but came to terms on a 1-year, $1.3 million contract on January 17. He pitched the entire season out of the bullpen, making a career-high 66 appearances. In 53 innings pitched, Cecil posted a 2–3 record with a 2.70 ERA and 76 strikeouts. He also recorded 5 saves, and gave up only 2 home runs for the entire season.
2015 On January 15, Cecil signed a one-year, $2.475 million contract with Toronto to avoid salary arbitration. With the departure of
Casey Janssen in the offseason, the role of
closer was left vacant into spring training. On March 24, manager
John Gibbons named Cecil the Blue Jays' closer to open the 2015 season. Cecil struggled to open the 2015 season, and lost the closer role early to rookie
Miguel Castro. On April 28, Cecil was moved back into the closer role. After yielding 8 earned runs in his previous 2 innings pitched, Cecil was again removed from the closer role on June 23. From June 24 through the end of the season, Cecil did not allow an earned run, lowering his ERA from 5.96 to 2.48. He was named to the postseason roster and appeared in both of the Blue Jays first two games, however he suffered a calf injury in the second game. Afterward it was determined that he would miss the remainder of the postseason with a tear in his left calf muscle.
2016 On January 15, 2016, Cecil and the Blue Jays avoided
salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.8 million contract. Cecil pitched his 38th consecutive scoreless appearance on April 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays, which tied the MLB record for consecutive scoreless appearances set by
Craig Kimbrel in 2011. In 2016 he was 1–7 with a 3.93 ERA. He became a free agent following the season.
St. Louis Cardinals 2017 Cecil signed a four-year, $30.5 million contract with the
St. Louis Cardinals on November 21, 2016. In 2017, he was 2–4 with a 3.88 ERA in 73 relief appearances. He was activated on August 15. Cecil finished his 2018 campaign with a 1–1 record and a 6.89 ERA in 32.2 relief innings pitched.
2019 For the second straight year, Cecil began the year on the 10-day
injured list. He was transferred to the 60-day IL on March 29, and did not pitch at all during the season. During the off-season from the 2019–2020, and during the quarantine caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic, he developed a
sidearm delivery due to the fact that Cardinals pitching coach,
Mike Maddux, said that all pitchers should experiment with anything they wanted during quarantine.
2020 Cecil was released by the Cardinals organization on July 22, 2020.
Retirement Cecil announced his retirement from professional baseball on November 7, 2021, via Instagram. ==Personal life==