Dylan Cease could be the ace of the Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are loaded with outstanding pitching talent. They have the likes of Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, Liam Hendriks, Garrett Crochet, and Aaron Bummer amongst others. A lot of different people are used in different ways which is so fun to watch.

It was a big key to their success in 2021. There were different points in the season where Carlos Rodon, who is probably gone, was the ace of the staff. There were also other points where Giolito and Lynn could make that claim.

A lot of people expect Michael Kopech to join that conversation in the near future as well. However, Dylan Cease might already have a case for it soon too if he doesn’t already. He was magnificent in 2021.

He needed a few starts at the beginning of the season to work some things out but he was nasty for most of the year. He had very typical growing pains that young elite prospect pitchers have early on and now he is ready to take the next step.

Dylan Cease could absolutely go on to be the ace of the Chicago White Sox.

Cease is good enough to be the ace of a staff. If he does become the number one, that won’t mean that the other pitchers underperformed. It will mean that Cease took a ginormous step which is possible because he has enchanted stuff.

He has the ability to work his extremely high-velocity fastball with some devastating off-speed action. It fools hitters as well as any pitcher the White Sox can. With some other flamethrowers in the mix for this team, it is hard to face the staff as a whole in a series. The rotation (and bullpen) almost never come at you lightly.

Going into 2022, there are a lot of expectations on the White Sox to do great things and Cease is a big part of it. He will almost certainly go into the year (unless they make a huge signing or keep Carlos Rodon) as the team’s number three behind Giolito and Lynn who each have a few years in a row as top 15 Cy Young guys.

In that case, Cease would be a beautiful three for them. It is okay to have three or four guys who would be game one starters on most teams. The White Sox very well could have that. By the end of it all, however, it shouldn’t be too surprising to see Cease as the ace. Not bad for the second piece of a return for Jose Quintana.