After breakout season, Sox's Cease working to soar even higher

The White Sox flopped last season, going 81-81 and finishing 11 games out of first place when they were widely predicted to run away and hide in the AL Central.

Dylan Cease was one of the few Sox players that flourished.

Finally harnessing his above-average fastball, slider and curve, Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA during his second full season as a starter.

The right-hander also had 227 strikeouts in 184 innings, limited opposing hitters to a .190 batting average and finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting behind Houston's Justin Verlander.

Cease is aiming to do the same thing again this year, but he's not taking anything for granted.

"I think the biggest thing for my motivation is knowing that it's not given and that if I don't show up and I don't put the work in, it's not going to happen," Cease said. "For me, I just want to perform well and contribute to a winning team and do what it takes."

The 27-year-old pitcher will begin working in earnest in less than a month when White Sox pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., for spring training.

After breaking out last season and becoming an elite major-league starter, Cease is altering his approach a bit this year.

"I'm starting my bullpen work a little later," he said. "I'm kind of following the same process, trying to develop my changeup a little bit more, but really I'm still just building up arm strength and getting my body ready."

In the past, Cease ramped up for the long season as quickly as possible as he tried showing he belonged in the Sox's starting five.

Now, he has transitioned to making sure he's strong in the second half and possibly the playoffs.

"The biggest thing is there is a lot less to work on," Cease said. "The previous seasons, I had a lot of things that needed to be ironed out whereas now it's more I think rest and making sure my body is prepared for the long run is a little more important. So I'm able to kind of fine-xtune the little things as opposed to having to do a whole lot of work up front."

Looking back on last season, Cease understands why the White Sox were viewed as underachievers.

"Obviously, we had such high expectations," he said. "If you take pride in what you're doing and you really took that to heart, failing and losing like that, it hurts."

On the flip side, he knows the Sox were never fully healthy and expects a much better 2023 if key players like Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yasmani Grandal avoid long stays on the injured list.

"I think that was a huge part of it," Cease said. "I mean, any time you are missing superstar players that are game-changing players like that, it just it makes the job more difficult. That's a big part of it. Obviously, we have to make sure we show up and we do the little things right and play hard.

"But if we are able to keep all those guys on the field at the same time, I think it's a different story for sure."