Chicago Cubs: Dylan Cease shows not all the top prospects are hitters
While everyone knows about the Chicago Cubs’ great hitting prospects, Dylan Cease shows that they have some good pitching prospects as well.
When Theo Epstein came to Chicago, he promised a plan for the Chicago Cubs. He tore down the minor league system and built it back up. He ended up rebuilding it with some of Major League Baseball’s best young hitters.
Epstein did not appear to put the same emphasis on the pitching. He decided to build his pitching staff through trades and free agency. Of course, that combination resulted in a World Series title.
In order to keep the titles coming, the Cubs need to concentrate on getting good young pitchers. They are on their way to doing just that. In last year’s draft, they took pitchers on 13 of their first 14 picks. Two of the top three international signees were also pitchers. At Class-A or lower, they have Dylan Cease (#3 rated Cubs prospect), Oscar de la Cruz (#5), Jose Albertos (#10), Thomas Hatch (#9) Erling Moreno, Bailey Clark, Jose Paulino, Justin Steele, and Bryan Hudson.
Of those pitchers, the first one to make an impact should be Cease.
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Grabbing Cease was perhaps another one of the great fortunate things to happen to Epstein on his way to building a winner. Cease was a high school All-American who projected to be a top-ten selection. He went down early in his senior season and required Tommy John elbow surgery. The Cubs signed him in the sixth round of the 2014 draft.
The Cubs took it easy with Cease. He threw just 24 innings in 2015 and 45 innings in 2016. He boasts a fastball that tops 100 miles per hour. In his time in the Cubs’ organizations so far, he posted an impressive 2.36 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Also, he had 91 strikeouts in just 68.2 innings and only gave up 39 hits.
On the other hand, he still needs to work on his form when throwing the slower pitches (he walked 41 batters), but that is normal for pitchers that young (he turned 21 in December).
Normal is something Cease is happy to be at the moment. After being on a rehab program the past two seasons, the reins are off and he can throw without worrying about restrictions. He can now show his stuff and take off.
"I feel like a real ballplayer now. Where I can now do the same stuff as everyone else. If I want to work on my breaking ball or my changeup in my side sessions, I’m not limited by my rehab schedule. It’s my first real opportunity to expand and grow how I want to."
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If some of those pitchers come up to the MLB level and play as well as their hitting counterparts did, the future is extremely bright for the Chicago Cubs. We’ll see if Dylan Cease is leading the way for the pitchers.