Chicago White Sox: Breaking down Dylan Cease’s rookie campaign

Dylan Cease had a rough rookie campaign with the Chicago White Sox. Let’s dive into the numbers where he can improve next season.

When Dylan Cease made his big league debut for the Chicago White Sox on a very warm July 3 day, he had mixed results. He definitely looked nervous in the top half of the first inning as he walked Brandon Dixon and hit Jeimer Candelario in consecutive batters, as the Tigers wound up scoring 2 runs in the inning.

But he settled down nicely in the top half of the second inning getting Jordy Mercer to line out to second and recording back-to-back strikeouts. Jacoby Jones was his first major league strikeout if that trivia question ever comes up. Don’t say I never gave you anything. Cease finished his day with 6 strikeouts but also walked 4 in 5.0 innings of work. He did notch his first win of the season and that was that.

"“It really is hard to put into words, the atmosphere,” Cease said. “It’s definitely the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field.” – ESPN"

Outside of this start, Cease had a 5.82 ERA in 68.0 innings while allowing opponents to bat 0.275 off him but struck out 75. He allowed a greater number of home runs than Sox fans would have liked as 15 balls left the yard, which projects to approximately 35 over the course of a full season of starts.

A closer review of his pitch usage indicates that Cease utilized his electric fastball at a 47.4 percent clip and showed five pitches in his arsenal. With an average velocity of 97 mph and 2449 rpm spin rate, Cease’s fastball ranked in the 93rd and 87th percentile, respectively. Pretty impressive stuff for the 23-year-old.

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One of his best pitches came in the form of his slider in which he utilized at a 21.0 percent rate. And with an already plus spin rate of 2622 rpm, batters were able to hit just 0.181 off his slider while producing a 34.4 percent whiff rate and a 39.2 percent strikeout rate. His slider was so devastating because it had 6.0 inches more drop – or 16.0 percent more- than the league average while having 10.0 percent more horizontal movement (StatCast).

Cease has one of the best arsenals despite his age and his curveball further proved that. With the same spin rate as his slider, opponents were able to hit 0.257 off Cease’s curveball but it produced a 29.7 percent whiff rate and 22.0 percent strikeout rate. Looking at his pitch chart for his curveball tells me that it caught entirely too much of the zone, especially with a 14.6 percent walk rate. But that’s an easy fix. I would expect him to get that pitch breaking below the strike zone next season and the results will show.

Despite the velocity, opponents were able to slug 0.637 off his fastball and 9 of his 15 home runs allowed came from this pitch. So what does Cease need to do to have an improved sophomore campaign? I think it ultimately just comes down to pitch repetition and getting his command shored up. He has some of the best stuff in the game, given his age, and Sox fans should see the results in just a couple years when he’s just starting to enter his prime.

Now imagine a 1-2-3 punch of Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, and Cease leading a playoff rotation. You’re welcome.