Dylan Cease will start for the White Sox on Wednesday

Dylan Cease (Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)

With their rotation already struggling to field even four starting pitchers and a doubleheader coming up on Wednesday, the White Sox would’ve had to work to settle on somebody who wasn’t Dylan Cease.

That didn’t stop them earlier in the season, but the Sox aren’t going to fight it anymore. Dylan Cease will make his major league debut on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1145366821165588481

Cease isn’t going to be the 26th man, either. He’s going to be part of the White Sox rotation going forward, and the White Sox stayed true to form in introducing a pitching prospect against an easier slate, at least on paper. The Detroit Tigers are dead-last in the American League in OPS, and if Cease then makes a start in the second series after the All-Star break against the Royals, they rank 12th out of 15.

Cease represents a departure from the previous handling of pitching prospects in that the White Sox did not wait for an extended run of quality or dominance before calling him up. While Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito looked ready for about a month before the Sox gave them the green light, Cease has struggled over his last four full starts (the last one was limited to an inning by rain, which has been another constant of his season in Charlotte). He has an 8.82 ERA and 11 walks to 13 strikeouts over 16⅓ innings, and while he’s been victimized by shoddy defense at times, he’s also had problems settling into a start.

However, the environment at Charlotte is also a departure from past norms. While Kopech, Lopez and Giolito all pitched within BB&T Ballpark’s cozy dimensions, they didn’t have to contend with a rabbit ball that turned Charlotte into an offensive Bacchanalia rivaled only by parks at altitude out west.

https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1141737696186044417

There may be only so much Cease can learn from that level under those conditions, especially if rain is going to be a constant threat. Plus, as we discussed with Eloy Jiménez last year, giving a prospect a half-season to understand what he’s dealing with might put the Sox in better position to capitalize on a soft market or an equally weak AL Central. It’s better than having four-fifths of the rotation chalked up as a total mystery.

The expectations shouldn’t be too high for Cease at the onset, and everybody and anybody he’s replacing have effectively lowered the bar for him. If Cease’s starts are a mess, at least he’ll fit right in.

Author

  • Jim Margalus

    Writing about the White Sox for a 16th season, first here, then at South Side Sox, and now here again. Let’s talk curling.

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karkovice squad

Pretty much on schedule with what Rick said in May. Still about a month late. Better than August/September.

billyok

HOW ARE WE GOING TO AFFORD HIM IN 2026 IF HE PITCHES WEDNESDAY OH GOD EVERYTHING’S GOING DARK

PauliePaulie

Hope he can give them 5 innings.

tommytwonines

With Cease up and Lambert hurt, is Kubat the next starting pitcher to get the nod? I say we see him in Chicago this year. 

lil jimmy

” Bañuelos ” is Spanish for “it hurts Doc.”

ParisSox

Good timing.  The All Star break allows them to spread out his starts and innings.  He’ll be working a career high innings this year.

asinwreck

News of Cease’s arrival inspired Giolito to shut down the Twins.

Pointerbabe

Already had tix for Wednesday afternoon- I’m pumped 

iowasox1971

I totally agree with the point that the wild-offense environment in Triple-A is not too conducive toward developing a pitcher. He has talent, and we might as well see what he does up here.