The Chicago White Sox needs to have a big week here. The month of August has some tough customers on the schedule for them but some big opportunities against weeker teams are on the horizon. It is starting this week with this series against the Kansas City Royals.
They got the series off to a fast start with their 7-1 Tuesday night victory. There were a lot of things that went into the win but Dylan Cease was the big story. He had a performance that is going to turn a lot of heads around the league.
Cease is a part of this rotation that has been one of the best in the league. Along with Carlos Rodon, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, and Dallas Keuchel, he needs to be at his best at all times. Cease doesn’t want to be bumped to the bullpen when the playoffs begin and he proved it in this win. The Royals aren’t the best team of all time but there are some nice hitters in that lineup.
He went 6.0 innings where he only allowed two walks and one hit. There were no earned runs against (and no runs in general) for Cease which is the biggest key. He had a whopping 11 strikeouts so his stuff was virtually unhittable for Kansas City. It was as good of a performance as he has ever had in his MLB career.
Dylan Cease was magnificent for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Dylan Cease, 9th, 10th and 11th Ks. pic.twitter.com/0uyq6HnnMY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 4, 2021
The White Sox needs Cease to be this good all the time. We always knew that he had enchanted stuff but he needed to get his command down. It seems like Ethan Katz has helped him do just that. There is some serious improvement happening with him right now and it is great to see.
The offense did their job as well with the seven runs that they scored. It makes the starter’s life easier when they get that level of run support. Tim Anderson and Andrew Vaughn deserve the most credit for getting the offense what it needed on Tuesday.
Following Cease’s awesome outing, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet, and Ryan Tepera shut the door and the White Sox walked away winners. Everything is coming together just how they need it. Pitching is the biggest key and Cease is one of the biggest pieces. Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel are next in like to keep the train rolling for the White Sox against the Royals. Hopefully, they are able to replicate what Cease did.