The Birmingham Barons’ game with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp was suspended after five innings due to rain, but Dylan Cease’s day was done, and he added this line to his stats:
5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K
His ERA at Birmingham is now 1.72.
Cease struck out 11 of the 18 batters he faced, which is a fine recovery from his previous start, which ended after a 42-pitch first inning. He did need 103 pitches to complete it, but he’s still taking on a career-high workload by a considerable margin, so making starts is the more important thing.
White Sox AA righty Dylan Cease was on brand in the first: 95-98, struck out the side on heaters, the rest kinda came and went, but flashed an above avg to plus hook once. Velo really gets on hitters both due to hop on the pitch and tempo in his delivery.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) August 23, 2018
Charlotte 5, Norfolk 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Charlie Tilson went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Welington Castillo, 3-for-4 with a double.
- Eloy Jimenez went 3-for-4.
- Ryan Cordell, 0-for-3 with a sac fly and a stirikeout.
- Seby Zavala was 0-for-4 with a K.
- Spencer Adams: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
- Ian Hamilton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Charlotte 3, Norfolk 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Ryan Cordell went 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Eloy Jimenez and Seby Zavala were both 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
Winston-Salem 3, Myrtle Beach 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Luis Gonzalez and Nick Madrigal were both 1-for-3.
- Blake Rutherford went 0-for-3 with a stolen base.
- Gavin Sheets, 2-for-3 with a double.
- Laz Rivera singled twice and was 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
- Lincoln Henzman: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
- Tyler Johnson: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Myrtle Beach 6, Winston-Salem 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Luis Robert and Blake Rutherford both were 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Nick Madrigal was -for-2 with a strikeout.
- Yermin Mercedes had half the Dash’s hits by going 1-for-3 with a homer.
- Gavin Sheets went 0-for-2.
- Ti’Quan Forbes, 0-for-1 with a walk.
- Laz Rivera entered as a pinch runner and was caught stealing.
Great Falls 3, Ogden 1
- Romy Gonzalez went 1-for-5 with a strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
- Bryce Bush, 2-for-4.
- Amado Nunez was 3-for-4 with a double.
- Davis Martin: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
AZL Cubs2 11, AZL White Sox 9
- Anderson Comas went 3-for-6 with a strikeout.
- Harvin Mendoza, 3-for-5 with a double and a walk.
- Cabera Weaver was 3-for-5 with a double, HBP and strikeout.
- Luis Mieses was 1-for-5 with a strikeout and a sac fly.
- Camilo Quinteiro went 2-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Kelvin Maldonado, 0-for-4 with a walk.
- Kleyder Sanchez went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Zack Burdi: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
- Hunter Kiel: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
DSL Reds 6, DSL White Sox 0
- Sidney Pimentel went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Jose Rodriguez and Jerrick Francees were both 0-for-3.
Birmingham at Jacksonville, suspended
Cease is gonna wind up pitching in the majors sometime next year as long as he doesn’t get hurt.
The Barons have 11 games left, so how many more starts is he expected to get this year?
Then again, we were saying the same thing about Hansen last season. But yeah, I’m optimistic.
But Hansen did get hurt…Â
…after a completely healthy season no less. This will be Cease’s first healthy year in a while, and there are no guarantees he holds up for a second. Cautious optimism, though.
Hopefully he follows the same path as Kopech. He should start next year at Charlotte, then start checking boxes as the season goes on.
If we keep worrying about checking boxes, maybe we’ll be ready in a 108 years. Cease is ready now. You’re in a rebuild, some of these guys should have been up learning by fire instead of checking boxes. Chris Sales did alright by skipping through.
That’s silly.
When you’re using a future hall of famer as an example for why to do something, you’re probably grasping at straws.
Agree completely. Cease and Rodon will anchor this team for a long time.
Eventually, this team has to start hitting. Time to start thinking about trading Giolito/Lopez, or even Kopech for a position stud. Then, buy one or two veteran starters.
Not sold on Kopech yet. Twinkies were fouling his fastball straight back. Second time through could have been messy. Velocity down. If Kopech is going to be the next Sale, he needs to throw that change. It was devastating the one time he tried it. (Watched Buehler and he’s clearly way ahead of Kopech. Could have been ours.)
Sell on the hype, not the results.
oljeto agrees with you.
YOUR POINT IS INVALID!
This Sales fellow sounds incredible, who is he?
@Jim, have you received any insight on Bryce Bush? He’s quickly becoming one of the most intriguing prospects in my opinion if he can stay at 3B
FutureSox probably broke the record for words written on a 33rd-round draft pick.
That is a ridiculously long article. I only skimmed it, but it definitely makes Bush sound very interesting.Â
Thank you Jim!
I’ve said this before, but I’ll be really interested in seeing how Bush, Nunez, and Sosa fit into the top 30. They combine for a nice, young infield that hopefully moves up the system together. Sure, they are in rookie league, but they can hit.
Given the seeming dearth of 3B prospects in the system at this point as a result of Burger’s injury(s), Bush could very well have the opportunity to advance relatively quickly through the system if he keeps hitting like he is.
I don’t know how quickly we can honestly expect Bush to move through the system, but if he keeps hitting he may have to vie for playing time at Winston-Salem with a returning Burger sometime next season.
First Kopech now Cease. This is getting very exciting.
It’s time to kick the rebuild into high gear. I think they should break the bank for Machado this winter. It would be better to get ahead of the game and be really ready for 2020. By then, we would likely have a lineup with Moncada, Robert, Eloy and Machado at the top and possibly Abreu, and a staff of Kopech, Rodon, Cease, Giolito/Lopez/Dunning and a back end of the bullpen of Hamilton, Burr, Burdi, Fry. I am expecting breakout years next year from Moncada and Giolito. Fun times are on their way!
If he’s willing to play 3B, I’m all for it.Â
If you pay him enough, he’ll be ok with playing 3rd.
I think he will be. He wanted to play SS this year to max out his opportunity for a big contract. Once he signs that contract, I’d guess he’ll be fine playing anywhere on the diamond.
Anybody observing him playing shortstop would probably say he didn’t do himself any favors by demanding to play there.
Robert is posting a .750 OPS between Kanny and W-S this season and is really struggling right now. I think people really need to temper expectations for him for the time being, especially given how much time he’s missed in his brief career to date.