3 White Sox players who took an unfortunate step back in 2023

The Chicago White Sox have a lot of reasons for being bad this season. Everyone expected it to be a bounce-back season after 2022's disappointment (which doesn't seem so bad after all now).

Of course, one of the biggest reasons for this now is that the Sox didn't get the best performances from everyone on the team.

In fact, there were a lot of players on this team that took a huge step back from what we've come to expect from them.

Some of them now have questionable futures because of how they played this year. These are the three that come to mind first:

1. Dylan Cease

Dylan Cease wasn't good enough for the Chicago White Sox this season.

The Chicago White Sox ended 2022 with one major positive. That was Dylan Cease's performance. He was as good as any pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Cease was the American League Cy Young runner-up because he was so dominant. It would have been his if Justin Verlander didn't have this amazing ERA after not pitching in multiple years.

Cease came into this season with legit expectations of competing for the Cy Young again. He was the ace of the staff to begin the year and all signs pointed to a decade of success for him.

It isn't like Cease is having this year that should get him removed from a Major League roster. That is just not the case. He even has a 1.6 WAR which means he is a positive player. He will also surpass 200 strikeouts this weekend which is to be celebrated.

However, his 4.85 ERA is far from the 2.20 ERA he had in 2022. He took a big step back and the White Sox need him to be better again in 2024. His future is cloudy because of this but it is on him to get better.