White Sox's Dylan Cease: Dominant in 10-strikeout opener
Rotowire
Cease did not factor into the decision Thursday, allowing one run on two hits and zero walks over 6.1 innings in a 3-2 win over Houston. He struck out 10.
Cease fired 62 of 86 pitches for strikes Thursday and allowed just two singles and a hit-by-pitch. The right-hander tied a franchise record by recording 10 Opening Day punchouts, and he racked up 15 swinging strikes against the defending World Series champions. Cease broke out with a career-best campaign that earned him second place in AL Cy Young voting last season, and based on his results Thursday, he could be on a trajectory to solidify his place among MLB's best pitchers in 2023.
Cease will start Thursday's Opening Day contest versus the Astros.
Cease will be making the first Opening Day start of his career. When asked about the possibility of doing so last week he said, "it would definitely be special. It would be an honor". Speaking of special, Cease will look to repeat his success from 2022 after he produced a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with a 11.1 K/9 last season.
Cease was reaching 97 mph with his fastball in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Athletics, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
Cease was hit hard in his first spring outing, and his appearance Tuesday also started poorly. He allowed a double, single and walk in the first inning, which allowed two runs to score. However, he ramped up his velocity as compared to his spring debut and also made an adjustment to his slider to improve his command of the pitch in his second inning of work. Cease has had a shaky start to spring training, but he is coming off an excellent 2022 campaign during which he posted a 2.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 184 frames.
Cease allowed 11 earned runs on seven hits and four walks across two-thirds of an inning to take the loss Wednesday in a Cactus League matchup against the Royals.
Cease completed two scoreless innings in his Cactus League debut March 3, though his second outing was derailed early. He allowed the first five batters he faced to reach base, the last of which was a grand slam by Michael Massey. He was pulled after recording just one out in the first inning but reentered one frame later and didn't fare any better. Cease is coming off an excellent 2022 season, so it's too early to panic despite the incredibly poor outing.
White Sox's Dylan Cease: Reaches $5.7 million deal
Rotowire
Cease signed a one-year, $5.7 million contract with the White Sox on Friday to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
It's a massive raise for Cease, who was in his first year of arbitration eligibility. The bump in pay was earned after the right-hander held a 2.20 ERA and 227:78 K:BB across 184 innings in 2022 to finish runner-up to Justin Verlander in American League Cy Young Award voting.
