Cease wastes little time showing why he's White Sox's top pitching prospect
As the White Sox's rebuild chugs forward, a wave of impressive young hitters is beginning to crest.
Eloy Jimenez is showing why he's considered one of the top prospects in baseball. The 22-year-old left fielder hit his first 2 major-league home runs in Friday night's win over the Yankees.
Luis Robert, Zack Collins, Nick Madrigal, Micker Adolfo, Blake Rutherford, Luis Gonzalez and Steele Walker are still in the minors, but the entire group could be wearing Sox uniforms later this season or in 2020.
On the pitching side, the outlook is not quite as promising.
Michael Kopech was the real deal after joining the White Sox's starting rotation last August, but the 22-year-old flamethrower hurt his elbow in his fourth outing.
Recovering from Tommy John surgery, Kopech is out until next season.
Dane Dunning was a combined 6-3 with a 2.71 in 15 starts with high Class A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham last year.
In late June 2018, Dunning was shut down for the season with an elbow sprain. The 24-year-old righty had Tommy John surgery in mid-March and is also done for the year.
Jimmy Lambert, Bernardo Flores and Konnor Pilkington are young starters to watch in the Sox's system, but only one healthy prospect looks like a lock to eventually be in the major-league rotation.
Dylan Cease.
Along with Jimenez, Cease joined the White Sox in the July 13, 2017 trade that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs.
The 23-year-old righty is starting for Triple-A Charlotte this season after going 12-2 with a 2.40 ERA for Winston-Salem and Birmingham last year.
Cease makes his second start for Charlotte on Sunday. In his debut, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder pitched 5 scoreless innings against Norfolk, scattering 3 hits to go with 5 strikeouts.
"I'm really happy with the first one," Cease said. "I think the thing I'm most happy about is the no walks. I had a solid fastball and I commanded my off-speed for strikes. Pretty good start to build off of."
Cease is hoping to have similar results Sunday, at Indianapolis.
"My goal is to just continue to stay locked in and execute pitches," he said. "I try not to have result-oriented goals like, 'I need to be in Chicago by here.' It's really just trying to be the best player I can be and see where that takes me."
Charlotte manager Mark Grudzielanek is still getting to know Cease, but he liked what he saw in the first start.
"He threw the ball really well," Grudzielanek said. "I like it because the spring was a little rough for him, but spring training doesn't mean a whole lot. He looked fine, he looked good. He was limited with the innings, but he's definitely someone they (White Sox) want to look after and monitor."
With Kopech, Dunning and potential closer Zack Burdi all bitten by the Tommy John bug and Alec Hansen coming back from a forearm strain, it makes sense for the Sox to be careful with Cease.
In high school, he had Tommy John surgery, and Cease's 2017 season was cut short by a strained throwing shoulder.
On the physical side, Cease is also off to a strong start this year.
"I feel fantastic," he said Friday at Victory Field in Indianapolis. "When I'm throwing and using my mechanics and doing well, I really feel like I'm putting most of the stress on my legs. From Day 1, my velocity has been good and it's been consistent. I'm really happy with that."
Grudzielanek had Kopech in Charlotte's rotation for most of last season, and now he has Cease. Has the manager noticed any similarities?
"Velocity-wise, yeah," Grudzielanek said. "But (Cease) is totally different. His release point, he's a smaller guy, he uses his legs really well, takes a shorter stride. As far as velocity, it's near (Kopech), upper 90s (mph) when he's feeling good, settling in at 96, 97, which is awesome for a starting pitcher.
"I think the most impressive thing is when he throws his off-speed, his two off-speed pitches (curveball, slider), he can throw them for strikes at any time."
Cease has kept an eye on the Sox this season, and he's aware the rotation has been erratic over the first two-plus weeks.
He is eventually going to have a starting job, but it might not be until the end of the current season or 2020.
"We have the (White Sox) games on whenever we can, watching and supporting the guys," Cease said. "To me, it's a talented group of (starters) so I'm not that worried about them. They've all been there and they're going to figure it out, one way or another."
Young guns
Baseball America's 2019 top pitching prospects:
1. Forrest Whitley, Astros
2. Jesus Luzardo, Athletics
3. Sixto Sanchez, Marlins
4. Casey Mize, Tigers
5. A.J. Puk, Athletics
6. Michael Kopech, WHITE SOX
7. Brent Honeywell, Rays
8. Ian Anderson, Braves
9. MacKenzie Gore, Padres
10. Justus Sheffield, Mariners
11. Mike Soroka, Braves
12. Mitch Keller, Pirates
13. Dylan Cease, WHITE SOX