Justin Verlander’s IL stint may open doors for Dylan Cease

There is some news coming out of the Houston Astros organization that may end up benefiting the Chicago White Sox and in particular, Dylan Cease.

Star pitcher Justin Verlander has hit the 15-day injured list with an injury to his right calf which will keep him out of the rotation for a little while. While there was no major structural damage, there was enough on an MRI to show that Verlander needed to sit and miss some time.

For anyone that has been paying attention, we all know that Cease and Verlander have been the two top pitchers in the American League this year and are both vying for the coveted Cy Young Award.

While Verlander may have a slight advantage over Cease at this time, any absence could help open the door for Cease to gain a slight edge over Verlander and even things out a little more.

Dylan Cease has a path to the Cy Young Award with Justin Verlander’s injury.

Heading into the injury list stint, Verlander sports a record of 16-3 with an ERA of 1.84 coming in a total of 24 starts in 2022.

Cease has an ERA of 2.27 with a record of 12-6 in 26 games. With a couple of strong outings, it’s possible that Cease could even things up with Verlander and make himself look a little better in the eyes of Cy Young voters.

Cease must seize this opportunity and try to get ahead of Verlander. He can do it provided he is able to shake off some of the negative things that have caused him some trouble in the last couple of starts and keep moving forward.

Hopefully, Cease will be able to get some help from the White Sox offense which has done very little to provide him with an opportunity to win games. Additional wins would look very good for Cease in his effort to secure the Cy Young.

Going back to Verlander, it doesn’t appear as if the injury is going to keep him out much beyond the 15-day injured list time frame.

Cease will at least be able to get a couple of starts in to close the gap between himself and Verlander in this tight race for the Cy Young. At the very least, it should make this a very interesting race to watch as the season ends.