Tag / Dylan Cease

by admin

Active Pitching Leaders – Through 2023

Last weekend, we looked at the active leaders in games I’ve attended through 2023 on the offensive side of the ball.  With spring training winding down and Opening Day just a few days away, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball and the active pitching leaders.

Wins

Name Total
Chris Sale 21
Lucas Giolito 12
Reynaldo Lopez 10
Jose Quintana 8
Lance Lynn 7

Losses

Name Total
Jose Quintana 17
Carlos Rodon 13
Chris Sale 12
Lucas Giolito 9
Kyle Hendricks 9

ERA (> 35 IP)

Name Total
David Robertson 2.13
Taijuan Walker 2.25
Liam Hendriks 2.88
Johnny Cueto 2.97
Chris Sale 3.09

ERA (> 70 IP)

Name Total
Johnny Cueto 2.97
Chris Sale 3.09
Dylan Cease 3.33
Reynaldo Lopez 3.64
Michael Kopech 3.94

Strikeouts

Name Total
Chris Sale 313
Jose Quintana 208
Lucas Giolito 185
Continue reading →
by admin

A Spring Training Surprise

When Chris Getz didn’t get the deal he was looking for during the offseason, it seemed pretty likely that Dylan Cease would start the 2024 season with the White Sox.  That plan changed last night, when the right hander was shipped off to the Padres.  In return, the White Sox are receiving right handed pitchers Drew Thorpe, Jairo Irairte, and Steven Wilson and outfielder Samuel Zavala.

Thorpe, a 23-year-old ranked as the 85th top prospect in MLB, has now been traded twice in the past four months after being acquired by the Padres in December as part of the return in the Juan Soto trade.  He posted a 2.52 ERA across 23 starts in High A and Double A for the Yankees in 2023.  Iriarte, the #8 prospect in the Padres system at 22, appeared in 27 games last season, starting 21, and finished with a 3.49 ERA between High A and Double A.

Ranked as the #7 prospect in the Padres system, Zavala, who is just 18, has three seasons of pro experience, splitting 2023 between Low and High A ball.  In 115 games, he hit 14 homers and 23 doubles, while knocking in 77 RBIs and drawing 94 walks, and slashing .243/.391/.406.  Wilson, 29, has made 102 appearances with the Padres over the past two seasons, posting a 3.48 ERA with 110 strikeouts over 106 innings.

Dylan Cease was first acquired by the White Sox, along with Eloy Jimenez, in the 2017 trade that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs.  He made his major league debut on July 3, 2019, picking up the victory in the first game of a double header against the Tigers.  Since that day, Cease has been a consistent part of the starting rotation, eventually becoming the ace of the staff.  In 2022, he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA, finishing second in Cy Young award voting.

Cease’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

by admin

2023 Final Pitching Leaders

Yesterday, we looked at the leaders in the 43 games I attended this year on the offensive side of the ball.  With the newly expanded Wild Card round wrapped up, it’s time to finish up our look back at the 2023 season with the pitching leaders, starting with everyone’s favorite pitching statistic:

Wins

Name Total
Drew Smyly 3
Kyle Hendricks 2
Aaron Bummer 2
Javier Assad 2
Marcus Stroman  2
Taijuan Walker 2

Losses

Name Total
Dylan Cease 3
Aaron Bummer 2
Kendall Graveman 2
Jimmy Lambert 2
Michael Kopech 2

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Jose Berrios 0.00
Mark Leiter Jr. 0.93
Luis Castillo 1.29
Michael Lorenzen 1.29
Mike Clevinger 1.73

Strikeouts

Name Total
Dylan Cease 36
Lance Lynn 29
Michael Kopech 29
Continue reading →
by admin

2023 All Star Break Pitching Leaders

The second half of the season kicks off tomorrow, so let’s finish off our look back at the 24 games I attended in the first half with the leaders on the defensive side, beginning with everyone’s favorite pitching stat:

Wins

Name Total
Aaron Bummer 2
Marcus Stroman 2
Taijuan Walker 2
18 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Kendall Graveman 2
22 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Gregory Santos 0.00
Jose Berrios 0.00
Marcus Stroman 1.29
Michael Lorenzen 1.29
Taijuan Walker 2.19

Strikeouts

Name Total
Lucas Giolito 28
Continue reading →
by admin

Active Pitching Leaders – Through 2022

Last week, we looked at the active leaders in games I’ve attended through 2022 on the offensive side of the ball.  With spring training winding down and Opening Day just a few days away, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball and the active pitching leaders.

Wins

Name Total
Chris Sale 21
Lucas Giolito 11
Reynaldo Lopez 9
Jose Quintana 8
Carlos Rodon 6
Dylan Cease 6
Lance Lynn 6

Losses

Name Total
Jose Quintana 17
Carlos Rodon 13
Chris Sale 12
Lucas Giolito 9
Kyle Hendricks 8

ERA (> 35 IP)

Name Total
David Robertson 2.13
Aaron Bummer 2.26
Cole Hamels 2.59
Danny Duffy 2.60
Michael Kopech 2.78

ERA (> 70 IP)

Name Total
Johnny Cueto 2.97
Chris Sale 3.09
Reynaldo Lopez 3.38
Dylan Cease 3.45
Lance Lynn 3.90

Strikeouts

Name Total
Chris Sale 313
Jose Quintana 208
Lucas Giolito 157
Continue reading →
by admin

2022 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Yordan Alvarez, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani

Had Shohei Ohtani not had the season he had last year, he would easily walk away with this award.  But, as they say, familiarity builds, if not contempt, at least complacency. So Aaron Judge, who broke the American League home run record, will take home the prize.

Cy Young Award: Dylan Cease, Alek Manoah, Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander returned from Tommy John surgery at age 39 and won 18 games while posting a 1.75 ERA.  Seems a little suspicious to my eyes, but he will easily take home this award.

Manager of the Year: Terry Francona, Brandon Hyde, Scott Servais

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  Scott Servais should have won this award last year, but I don’t think he will make up for it this year.  Brandon Hyde led the Orioles to a 31-game improvement over the previous year and their first winning season since 2016.  That should get him the award.

Rookie of the Year: Steven Kwan, Julio Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  While all three had very successful seasons, my guess would be that Julio Rodriguez brings this award back to Seattle.

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

2022 Final Pitching Leaders

Yesterday, we looked at the leaders in the 33 games I attended this year on the offensive side of the ball.  With the newly expanded Wild Card round in full swing today, it’s time to wrap up our look back at the 2022 season with the pitching leaders, starting with everyone’s favorite pitching statistic:

Wins

Name Total
Reynaldo Lopez 3
Liam Hendriks 2
Lucas Giolito 2
Dylan Cease 2
24 tied with  1

Losses

Name Total
Michael Kopech 2
Johnny Cueto 2
Davis Martin 2
26 tied with  1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Clayton Kershaw 0.00
Reynaldo Lopez 0.59
Marcus Stroman 0.79
Dylan Cease 1.00
Jimmy Lambert 1.13
Nestor Cortes Jr. 1.13

Strikeouts

Name Total
Lucas Giolito 32
Michael Kopech 26
Liam Hendriks 22
Continue reading →
by admin

2022 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, at the dawn of the lockout-delayed 2022 baseball season, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  With the regular season coming to an end today, it is time revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Blue Jays

Well, that’s one down.  The Yankees have owned the division pretty much from day one.

Central: White Sox

After running away with the Central Division in 2021, the White Sox were a consensus pick to repeat.  Unfortunately, the baseball gods had other ideas.  While the White Sox struggled all year to put things together, the Guardians hung around long enough to get really hot in September and run away with the division.

West: Astros

Hey, here’s one I got right.  The Astros once again find themselves at the top of the division, winning their fifth title in six years.

Wild Cards: Yankees, Angels, Red Sox

The AL East was particularly strong this year, as both the Blue Jays and the Rays make it to the expanded Wild Card round.  Rounding things out are the Mariners, who make the postseason for the first time since 2001 after missing out on the final day of the season last year.

AL Champion: Yankees

The Yankees have struggled in the second half, so they aren’t the locks they looked like early in the year.  At this point, you have to assume the Astros are the team to beat.

Cy Young: Lucas Giolito

That seems very unlikely.  Justin Verlander seems like the popular choice, with Dylan Cease and Shohei Ohtani likely to also get support.

MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Aaron Judge already has his name engraved on this award.

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

2022 All Star Break Pitching Leaders

Now that the All-Star Game is behind us and we await the start of the second half of the season, let’s take a look at the first half leaders on the defensive side of the ball for the 21 games I attended:

Wins

Name Total
Reynaldo Lopez 3
17 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Johnny Cueto 2
18 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Clayton Kershaw 0.00
Dylan Cease 0.00
Reynaldo Lopez 0.73
Marcus Stroman 0.79
Kendall Graveman 0.90

Strikeouts

Name Total
Michael Kopech 20
Continue reading →
by admin

Switching Sides Revisited

Five years ago today, the White Sox continued their selloff and pulled off the trade that many said couldn’t be done, sending Jose Quintana to the Cubs in exchange for Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, and Bryant Flete.  At the time, the Cubs were looking for a boost to their starting rotation as one of the strengths of their championship season the year before had turned into a question mark during the first half of 2017.  For the rebuilding White Sox, Jimenez, who was the 8th ranked prospect in baseball, and Cease, who was the 63rd, gave them nine out of the top 100 prospects.

So how did it work out, five years later?  You can say the White Sox were the runaway winners of the trade, but not for the reasons you would have thought five years ago.  After a slow start in his rookie campaign in 2019, Jimenez seemed to figure things out down the stretch and followed that up with an pandemic-abbreviated 2020 campaign that earned him the Silver Slugger.  Unfortunately, he’s played less than 75 games since, with major injuries keeping him on the shelf for large portions of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.  When he has played, he hasn’t yet been able to put together the type of production he showed in previous years.

Dylan Cease, on the other hand, has turned into the ace of the White Sox staff.  After a slow start in 2019 after making his debut in early July, Cease has improved each season.  He currently leads the American League in strikeouts and is widely considered one of, if not the biggest, snub for this year’s All Star team.

Quintana, meanwhile, spent parts of four seasons with the Cubs, going 33-23 with a 4.24 ERA.  He was decent, but not great, and the Cubs never were able to replicate their 2016 success.  In the postseason, he appeared in four games in 2017, two each in the NLDS and NLCS,