Cy Young contender? Chicago White Sox see greatness in Cease
Over his first two years in the White Sox's rotation, Dylan Cease is 9-11 with a 5.00 ERA.
In the abbreviated 2020 season, he led the American League with 34 walks (in only 58⅓ innings).
Needing a reliable starter for the deciding Game 3 of the playoffs against Oakland, the Sox decided Cease did not fit that profile. The right-hander had to settle for 1 inning of relief vs. the A's in Game 2.
In a nutshell, Cease has not come close to living up to the big expectations that accompanied him from the Cubs in the 2017 Jose Quintana trade. The White Sox also added power-hitting left fielder Eloy Jimenez in the deal.
That's not saying the Sox are starting to wonder if Cease is a dud. Quite the opposite, if you listen to what catcher Yasmani Grandal said Thursday about the 25-year-old pitcher.
Two weeks before spring training opened, Grandal was at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. He spotted Cease throwing and immediately texted new White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz.
"I said, 'I just saw him from the side, I feel like if we get him to where we see him going, this guy could be a Cy Young finalist,' " Grandal said. "He could possibly be a Cy Young winner. He's got the tools to do it, there's no doubt on that. It just comes down to the process and making sure he gets to do and sees the vision that we have for him. The future is going to dictate whether we can get him to be what we want him to be or not.
"Some guys take six, seven years to develop and then become the guy that everybody saw at the beginning of their career. I think Cease, at this point, just with his repertoire and what he's got, he's able to survive in the big leagues without a doubt. He has the swing and miss, he has the pitch capability.
"Now it's just a matter of narrowing down and making him more into a pitcher than a thrower."
Cease's power arm is already well known, and he tied for 12th among all major-league pitchers last season with an average speed of 97.5 mph on his fastball.
His curveball is nasty, a classic 12-6 bender that can make opposing hitters look foolish.
Add in a slider that is still developing, and you can see Cease does have the arsenal of an ace. And he did hear about Grandal's big-time praise.
"That's as big of a compliment as you can get from somebody," Cease said. "I think my dad texted me that. I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself. I know what the expectations are. Right now I'm just excited to get out there every day and put in the work to hopefully be able to contribute."
Entering camp, Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn and locked in as the Sox's top three starters. Cease, Reynaldo Lopez and Carlos Rodon are battling for the final two slots.
If he can start throwing consistent strikes, Cease is going to be in the rotation this season.
During the offseason, Katz got Cease on a program designed to fix the flaws in his mechanics.
"Some of my issues have been opening up and pulling and yanking balls, and I was getting that cut and bad spin efficiency," Cease said. "It was just giving me drills that will teach me how to stay closed longer, it shows your body how it needs to move. So you just keep doing the drills over and over again and it sort of just ingrains, you get that muscle memory and you don't have to think about it anymore."
If Cease can get his delivery straightened out, an already good White Sox rotation is going to be something to see.
"It starts with being able to execute your pitches at a high rate," Cease said. "I know that as a pitcher we're not going to be perfect, but just eliminating the free walks. Any time you give the opposing team any extra runners that are unnecessary, you're just shooting yourself in the foot. It's limiting the little things like that and cleaning up that kind of stuff."