Cease off to great start with Class AAA Charlotte
Pitching has been a major problem for the Chicago White Sox in the early part of the season.
In the near future, the Sox believe Dylan Cease is going to be a part of the solution.
"He's got really good stuff, (and) he's a young man that's very mature," Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He has a real good idea of what he wants to do."
The Sox's top pitching prospect after going a combined 12-2 with a 2.40 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 124 innings last season with high Class A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham, Cease is pitching at Triple-A Charlotte this season.
In his first start of the year Tuesday night, the 23-year-old righty picked up where he left off in 2018. Facing Norfolk, Cease scattered 3 hits over 5 scoreless innings. While throwing 69 pitches, he had 5 strikeouts and didn't issue a walk.
If he stays on track, Cease should be in the White Sox's rotation sometime after the all-star break.
"I think as players find out, once they get to the big leagues there are lot of things they're going to still experience here, both positive and negative," Renteria said. "It's going to ultimately be them putting those skill sets and their ability to manage emotions and stress situations and then adjust and know that all the guys that are here at the major-league level are the best of wherever they've been before in the past.
"They'll have to navigate through that. But I think he's got a step up on people because he is a much more mature young man in terms of his approaches and he has a really good idea about who he is."
Money matters:
According to Forbes, the White Sox are worth $1.6 billion. That figure ranks 14th out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball.
Forbes also reported the Sox had a $76 million profit last season, which ranked sixth in the majors.
The White Sox offered free-agent Manny Machado a contract worth a guaranteed $250 million in February. Two club option years could have made the deal worth $320 million.
Machado wound up signing with the San Diego Padres for a guaranteed $300 million over 10 years.
General manager Rick Hahn was disappointed with the outcome but guaranteed the Sox are going to have plenty of money to spend moving forward.
The White Sox opened the current season with a $93 million payroll, which ranks 25th in baseball.
Optioned out:
After Wednesday's loss to Tampa Bay, the White Sox optioned Caleb Frare to Class AAA Charlotte.
The left-handed reliever allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks over 2⅓ innings in 4 appearances.
Another Tatis:
At SoxFest, GM Rick Hahn referred to himself as a "jack(bleep)" for trading top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. for veteran starter James Shields in 2016.
Tatis is a budding star with the Padres and Shields is out of the game after a forgettable stint with the White Sox.
On Wednesday, ESPN's Enrique Rojas reported the Sox have a $500,000 deal in place with Tatis' brother, 17-year-old Elijah Tatis.