Chicago White Sox: Dylan Cease deserves more shine

The Chicago White Sox were one of the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball this season. They went 81-81 and only came in second place which meant that they missed the postseason for the first time since 2019. It was a tough year all season long.

One person who didn’t disappoint, however, is Dylan Cease. The new White Sox ace is now looked at as one of the best pitchers in the American League. Even with how amazing he was in 2022, it still doesn’t feel like he gets the shine that he deserves.

On Friday night, we saw Justin Verlander have another World Series meltdown which has been something he has always dealt with throughout his Major League career. For some reason, this final series has been brutal for him although he is one of the best pitchers ever.

Verlander is probably going to edge out Cease for the American League Cy Young Award. Shane McClanahan, Shohei Ohtani, and Shane Bieber are also going to see their names in the mix but it should end up being Verlander in first and Cease in second.

Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox deserves so much more respect.

Coming in second shouldn’t be something that is a shame for Cease. Verlander was magnificent and that doesn’t mean that Cease doesn’t also deserve it. He had one of the best pitching seasons in the history of the long-storied franchise that had many good ones come before him.

He was the only White Sox pitcher to make 32 starts which is enough for some shine on its own. He had a 2.20 ERA with a 1.109 WHIP and 227 strikeouts over 184.0 innings pitched. All of this accumulated a 6.4 WAR which is absolutely incredible.

If Cease were to somehow get better than that, he’d be in MVP conversations. The ceiling is incredibly high for him as this was just his true first breakout season. The fact that he can get better is incredibly scary for the rest of the league to think about.

If Michael Kopech takes that Dylan Cease-like step, both Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito bounce back, and they add one more solid starter, Cease could lead one of the best rotations in the game. If the offense comes back to life with a rotation like that, they could be in the playoffs again.

Hopefully, this happens so that Cease can get the props that he deserves. He didn’t even make the American League All-Star team in the middle of the season because he was just as good in the first half as he was in the second half. Maybe next year.